One night I walked down to the riverbank on the Tamar River. It was moonlight and the water was mirror calm. I gazed in amazement at the reflections from above. What a beautiful sight to behold in the still of the evening...
But that peaceful paradise could soon be swallowed up by noise, bright lights, pollution and visual skyline ugliness on the other side of the river.
A multi-billion dollar venture is planned by a company called SunCable who say on their website, “Work is already underway. We’ve partnered with global, local, federal and state governments” to manufacture electrical submarine cable that is intended to deliver solar generated power to Singapore from Darwin. We the people of Tasmania have not even been asked if we want it.  And what 'global government', by the way? The power will travel 5500 km from its source near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory to Singapore. That is the same distance as from Perth, Western Australia to Auckland, New Zealand (a seven hour flight). There will be two cables this length, each more than 100mm thick. And that is just their first project.
Nothing can possibly go wrong...
In Deceitful Cove, Bell Bay, SunCable requires 45ha of land for the plant. Part of the land area will need to be re-zoned. A large jetty facility is planned to be built for ships to load on board the spools of cable. This is a noisy operation and loading will occur about 12 times a year for 10 to 14 days at a time.
If this venture goes ahead under the questionable banner of "green energy", a 200m x 50m x 50m tower will be built, plus accompanying 30-50m high buildings. The tower will be nearly three times the height of Wrest Point Casino, which is 76m in height. Meanwhile, we residents have trouble getting approval to build a shed or granny flat on our own private land...
It would appear the average citizen stands to gain little or nothing out of all this. Beauty Point could be called Ugly Point and the clean green image of Tasmania will be damaged. The tower will dominate the mouth of our beautiful Tamar River which is frequented by migratory fish and birds. Once it is built we will be stuck with it.
Currently, the longest electrical submarine cable in the world is about 700 km long. These cables are to be nearly five times as long.
SunCable is claiming it will supply 15% of Singapore's power. Truth be known, it will be a big drain on our green hydro power to manufacture the cable. We already export cheap power to Victoria and at times have to buy some back at a higher price when our dams get low.  We sometimes also have to use diesel generators to keep Tasmania running. This will make power more expensive for us. In other words our power price will most likely rise to subsidise this Singaporean based company.
Look at the absurdity of the risk. Bill Gates is currently funding, together with other partners, a scheme to spray particles into the atmosphere to dim the sun to prevent "global warming". This is expected to somewhat drop the efficiency of solar panels world wide.
Here in Tasmania few people will benefit from this commercial enterprise. For we the average citizen, all we may end with is an eye sore, noise and light pollution (there's enough now), and the risk of polluting the Tamar River with lead and other materials used in the process of making the cables. 

LET'S KEEP THE TAMAR BEAUTIFUL!

Considerations:

1. The SunCable application is compromised. The state government and local councils should hold well-advertised meetings to first establish the will of the people.  Disrespect is building up against them for abdicating their responsibility to inform us, and ask for our opinion on such a huge proposal.
2.     This is not light industry. It is not really green energy. The cable to Singapore alone will require some 225,000 tonnes of material including lead and aluminium to pass through the factory. And that's just project number one. Surely there has got to be an  easier, safer and cheaper way for Singapore to derive its power.
3.     The noise level of the Bell Bay industrial complex is bad enough without a substantial increase in noise pollution, much closer to residential areas.
4.         In general, there seem to be exceptions made for big corporations, and endless red tape for small operators, and for those who just want to build a shed or granny flat on their own private property.
5.         If this proposal gets up and running, and is noisy and polluting, as mentioned, we will be stuck with it. It will be an eyesore “forever”.
6.         Where other cable manufacturing facilities exist there have been serious concerns about noise levels, pollution, light and the 24/7 operation.
7.         For those of us who collect rain water for drinking there is concern about the drift of particulates from the factory. There is already a problem in this area.
8.         What will be the impact on the surrounding communities with a large number of fly-in fly-out workers?
9.         This tower could become a monument for some, but a tombstone for democracy in Tasmania for others.
10.    If this is a partnership 'with global, local, federal and state governments', who is going to be the adjudicator?  Who do we, the local residents, appeal to if something is out of line, or goes wrong?  I think we are all entitled to be annoyed at being ignored in consideration of this significant project.
It is the duty in a democracy for each citizen to keep an eye on 
how they behave personally, and to keep an eye on developments 
that may be inappropriate or harmful to them or their neighbours. 
In this case it is up to you to do what you think is wise, whether you sign this petition, and/or you contact the State Planning Commission, your Local Council, Councillors and State Members of Parliament or businesses that may be sympathetic to your view, attend meetings, or just remain silent.  It is, however, a duty to keep governments on every level accountable for their actions, or inaction.
We should all become informed, then act according to our own conscience.