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Film ripped from camera at quarry site

 

A film was ripped from a camera after the Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC) tried to prevent local residents from attending a tour of the Bulls Hill quarry site recently.

The tour of the site resulted from the resolution of a public meeting convened by Gosford Council to discuss the Correa Bay watter quality study.

The film was taken from the camera after a DLWC officer took photos of those attending the tour.

Mr Derek Britton, chairman of the Correa Bay Water Quality Management Committee which undertook the study, said that permission to undertake the tour had been initially refused.

However, DLWC later agreed to allow 20 people onto the site after an approach by Member for Peats, Ms Marie Andrews.

When more than 20 people arrived for the tour, the DLWC officer attempted to prevent their access.

Cr Lynne Bockholt was amongst those attending.

"A DLWC bureaucrat met us at the site and said that, for insurance reasons, only 20 people could tour with him and the rest would do so at their own risk," she said.

"I went at my own risk."

DLWC's general manager of land, Mr Graham Harding, told Peninsula News it was a liability issue.

He said the department's legal advisors had suggested the limit because the site was a quarry and therefore potentially hazardous in nature.

Cr Bockholt said that if there were insurance concerns over the quarry then DLWC had done little to secure the site.

She said that there were neither fences nor warning signs around the property.

"It was just a ruse to keep down the numbers of people who could tour the site," she said.

"People use the track for bush walking and trail bike riding."

Those allowed into the quarry had to write down their names and addresses before entry,

While touring the site, the DLWC officer took a photo of those touring the site.

According to Mr Britton, one member of the party "took exception to this and took the camera and pulled the film out".

This prompted the DLWC officer to depart, leaving those touring the site unattended.

Mr Britton reported seeing stockpiles of rubble and sediment which could flow down into Woy Woy Creek as well as a massive erosion in Woy Woy Creek.

Cr Bockholt said she saw loose sand which would run down into the creek next time it rained.

She said that not nearly enough had been done to clean up the site.

"It's in a disgraceful condition," she said.

Cr Bockholt said that DLWC was responsible for the site and that it was up to the department to clean it up.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service and DLWC held a meeting, to address the issue of sediment from Bull Hills quarry the following Thursday, September 26.

Cr Bockholt said that she wasn't invited to the meeting but a council officer had attended.

"The Correa Bay committee should have been involved.

"They are vital to this issue, having been involved with it for two to three years now," she said.

Mr Britton said that after 10 years the Correa Bay "problem" still had not been properly addressed.

"We've identified the problem.

"We want to solve it and we could assist," he said.

Mr Britton said that, while the problem had not yet been solved, the meeting was "a step in the right direction".

Alison Branley, September 27