ActewAGL don't get it!

miz; i’d say the reason why stanhope “resolutely refused”, your words; not the ones i would use in describing that interview, to answer a yes/no question about an enviromental impact study was because the new plant is small enough not to autmatically need one; (the cut off is 30 something or others; the new plant produces 28); stanhope was probably just keeping options open so that if there is enough community desire for an EIS then he can say yes without already having a ‘no’ already on the public record. An EIS mave prove politically necessary, 28 sounds a lot like deliberately being just under the cut off and the whole issue already being blown out of all proportion.
As to wether or not the consultation was “disingenuous at best, deceitful at worst” i dont think it was, it was extended to a longer than normal process and various events (community forums etc) where either put on or attended by actew; this consultation process has been more than fair.
I think alot of where your (and others) percieved problems with the process comes from is that you care a lot about the issue (people who dont care generally dont consult)and have thought it through yourself and come up with what you beleive to be the best result, and so you turn up believing that once you’ve had your say everyone will agree with you and that’ll be that. However 150 other people also do this along with 150 pro-powestation people. The point of consultation is to get your voice heard and listened to, not just to get your own way. This point is not just specific to the powerstation but to just about everything that goes to consultation, i read in todays paper that this happening with regards to school sites; just as it did with tharwa bridge; school closures; the GDE and a million other projects.
consultation is part of the process, not the process in its entirety. In the case of the powerstation i’d think that the consultation process has gone quite well for those against the powerstation; i dont think there is a soul alive who isn’t aware that macarthur residents have concerns about the plant.

sepi; i dont think your comment is factually accurate; the would have been a health assesment on the larger plant as its part of the approval process. Period. If there is an assesment done on the samller plant it will be done because of community concern not necessity.

pandy; dont think i’ve forgotten you, I’m just not dignifying that comment with a resposne.

Tom-tom I don’t have that much faith in this govt’s ability to keep us safe either.

Deb Foskey recommended a health assesment of the power plant when it was at it’s largest planned size. Jon Stanhope said there was no need.

No Katy G is doing a health assessment of the smaller plant – why then??? Just because the community suddenly started doing their own research and found some disturbing facts?

To my mind, the dismissal of the block of land opposite the Gull servo, which would impact on virtually no-one, has not been adequately explained by ACTEW. Hints of potential Aboriginal heritage appear to be red herrings to short circuit discussion.

I think that the issues surrounding the Aboriginal heritage sensitivity at that site were more about timing. Proper archaeological assessment of that site could take 3-6 months to complete and would add significant cost, whereas the site they ended up chosing, did’t pose those time constraints.

Tom-Tom: downsizing? The guys from ACTEWAGL as so INCOMPETENT that THEY pulled the pin when they said that the size of the pwoer plant was not BIG enough to make it COMMERCIALLY VIABLE. Capice? They need a 500 Megawatt power plant. Tell me Tom-Tom are you against spending another $50-$100 million building a high voltage transmission line from Willamsdale?

Sonic heads ACTEWAGL simple as that. No doubt they wont call it a power station when it is built but the “The John Stanhope Centre of Coolness” just like they dont call a jail a jail so as to defuse protests.

Tom-tom, so glad you have faith in the ACTPLA process! – I note, however, that Mr Stanhope recently refused to answer a simple yes/no question about the need for an environmental impact statement on Chief Minister Talkback (ABC 666, last Friday morning). I found this concerning. And as a local I also found the consultation process disingenuous at best, deceitful at worst.

i think that there are three main issues concerning the powerplant; an environment/health issue; an aminety issue and a role of govt. issue;

on the environmental/health issue; i think this is a bit of a storm in a tea cup; if the plant was unsafe there is no way it will be built. simple as that. this is why we have ACTPLA to investigate these things. I think those against the power plant need to stop pushing this ‘smog-exhaling, whining monstrosity ‘ type of argument. If the plant is as dangerous and unsafe as they claim it will simply not get approval, end of story.

on the aminety issue; again i think this is blown out of all proportion; there was a consultation program put in place and this was utilised by residents; it was even extended when the nimby’s complained they hadn’t had enough time (just for the record when the nimbys start whinging about labor not listening to them, i’ll remind them it was barr and gentleman who were instrumental in getting the consultation period extended)
further to this issue are the benefits of the power station; a reliable source of power for canberra; 200 jobs; billions of dollars of investment etc…
I’m not saying outright that the benfits outweigh the costs, (i personally think they do, but i dont make the decisons) but that there are benefits to the project; not just the cost of a marginal amount of aminety for macarthur residents.

finally on the role of govt issue; in my opinion it is a fundemental role of govt to encourge projects like this while protecting residents from any negative consequences; i think labor where doing this by being quietly supportive while still letting ACTPLA do their job.
on the other hand i think the libs role has been an absolute disgrace; they have interfered with the planning process in a manner i find absolutely unforgivable, there interferance has led to the downsizing of the project at significantly cost to the community.

Miz – I would be fairly close to the site, a short walk even for my aged legs. But I do enjoy having electricity.

Call me excessively trusting, but I know nothing about what makes somewhere a god place for a power station of any kind. Nor, I suspect do many of those objecting. (The “clean air” thing being an example – have these people not seen the pall that hangs over Tuggers when the back-to-nature open fire fools do their thing?. Far worse than a burned gas residue).

Build the fracker at Williamsdale. I am sure most Canberrans would be prepared to pay to build a transmission line from that spot to Canberra. ACTEWAGL just want a cheap option and frack the residents.

VicePope, yes – I think Actew wants (and probably ACT needs) an XXL sized power station – but neither the original nor the scaled down version should go on the land Actew are clinging to like foolish limpets.

They want THAT spot, it appears, ‘by hook or by crook’, as they regard the access as convenient and therefore cheaper (read, ‘we have already told lots of investors how much it will cost and don’t want to look like idiots’). Except, perhaps cutting their losses on the proposed site and finding a less residential site would be smarter at this point.

While there are undoubtedly some Nimby considerations, I think the protesting community is doing every Canberran a favour. I am sure you would not want this major utility station near you! (Personally I think even the Hume sites are too close to people – all the considered sites were within cooee).

The one house I have visited in Macarthur was tiny three bedroom place with no mod cons whatsoever. Nice leafy block though.

I think the claims about Indigenous artefacts on the original preferred location are a crock too. Why did ACTPLA offer it up as an option if it was not useable??

Or was it a case of ‘we have these three blocks for you to choose from – A – not very good, B – Indigenous issues, oh and C – a lovely location in MAcarthur.