Arguments against development of the proposed canal estate in Ralphs Bay

The proposed development cannot be described as environmentally sustainable, in the light of all these significant threats to biodiversity in the locality and further afield.

Quotes (in red) and page references are taken from the the Lauderdale Quay Draft Integrated Impact Statement, its appenices or its Executive Summary

• Drying out of a vast swathe of the Ralphs Bay mudflat/sandflat ecosystem by bunding off the construction area would kill virtually every organism in the invertebrate/microorganism food web, and destroy the local population of all these organisms, which are components of a valuable ecosystem.

The Walker Corporation's DIIS admits that thedevelopment would have a negative impact on the environment and the ".. proposed Lauderdale Quay development will result in the removal of approximately 52% of the existing intertidal sandflats and associated shoreline habitats at Lauderdale which provide foraging, roosting and nesting resources for resident and migratory waders." (Executive Summary, p XXIV, XXV)

• Removal of this mudflat/sandflat ecosystem would deprive migratory and resident shorebirds of their food supply, and thus lead to inevitable mortality and population declines in these bird species.

"The proposed Lauderdale Quay development will result in the removal of approximately 52% of the existing intertidal sandflats and associated shoreline habitats at Lauderdale which provide foraging, roosting and nesting resources for resident and migratory waders. The areas of wader habitat to be affected ... are the preferred foraging areas for most wader species, particularly in summer." (p XV).

"The ... development will also result in the loss of nesting sites... " (p XV)

".. it is inevitable that the loss of resources, particularly areas of good quality wader foraging habitat, will result in impacts that can not be completely mitigated or offset." (p XV)

"The potential for discernible impacts at the DEPA level for species such
as the Whimbrel and Grey-tailed tattler, which are both relatively rare in the DEPA ...." (p XV) Link to DEPA Review

• Since Birds Tasmania records show that shorebirds regularly move between Ralphs Bay and the Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance at Pittwater/Orielton to feed and roost, mortality at Ralphs Bay can be expected to reduce populations recorded at the Ramsar listed site.

• Removal of remnant saltmarsh vegetation. Threats to the endangered geometrid moths that feed on the barilla bushes in the saltmarsh.

• Estuarine areas such as Ralphs Bay have an important function as fish nurseries, as they provide protected, rich feeding grounds for the young fish. Ralphs Bay may also be a nursery area for sharks and rays. Removal of a large swathe of the Ralphs Bay sandflat / mudflat may result in an eventual decline in fish stocks.

• Out in the Bay itself, and downstream in the Derwent – threat to the critically endangered Spotted Handfish, which has a confirmed population in Ralphs Bay itself, not far from the proposed development, and also has two of its only three confirmed breeding colonies just downstream from Ralphs Bay, along the South Arm peninsula. This species is listed in several pieces of legislation, including the appendices of the Commonwealth's Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

• Sea lavender – another threatened species.

• Low biodiversity in the vicinity of the canal estate itself, as a result of reduced water quality in the canals, such as low oxygen levels and high levels of turbidity and general pollution.