Rob King on Pumicestone Passage - Photo by Ann White
Rob King is also uneasy about the continued health of the passage. He has lived on the southern reaches of Pumicestone since 1977 and is a board member of NRMSEQ (part of SEQ Catchments) and environment officer for recreational fishing group, Sunfish. He monitors the passage closely and his major concern is around the growing number of poultry farms in the catchment.
“There are 30 to 40 intensive poultry farms in the Caloundra-Caboolture area, and I calculate there are 2.8 million birds east of the Bruce Highway in the catchment. More sheds have been approved, and this is happening next to a migratory bird habitat.”
“The poultry sheds are cooled by tunnel ventilation, and massive fans blow air through the sheds into the open air. The proximity of the farms to the passage and to each other raises serious concerns about the spread of disease, as well as airborne nutrients and toxicants settling into waterways,” said Mr King.
“Pumicestone Passage is protected by the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to maintain the ecological balance and diversity and it is heritage listed. The problem is, responsibility for managing the environmental impacts of development has been devolved to two local councils (Caloundra and Caboolture) and they are struggling to understand what’s required.”
“They assess each development application on its merits,” he said, “which doesn’t take account of the cumulative effects of environmental disturbance and pollution. There are no checks and balances; the poultry industry doesn’t share its information; the EPA and Department of Primary Industry don’t link. We’re seeing a failure of all levels of government to protect the passage. Until we look at things cumulatively, we won’t solve the problems.”
Council amalgamation still leaves Pumicestone’s catchment split between two councils. “Amalgamation will set the cause back 10 years,” Mr King added. Much of the urban and agricultural development along the passage has occurred since the last major storm surge in the 1970s.
Given the low rainfall in recent years, there are fears about the effects of the next storm surge on the passage. Litter, pollutants and sediment will be flushed from the creeks and sand banks in the northern passage will shift.
Greg McKean, whose community group Night Eyes has removed 40 tonnes of rubbish from the northern passage in the last seven years, says: “It hasn’t really rained in years and when it finally does people will get a big shock.”
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