Scenic Rim residents left with more questions than answers and seeking real conversation

Community members from across the Scenic Rim have organised more public forums in direct response to Cleanaway's recent community information sessions for the proposed Bromelton Energy and Resource Centre (BERC) the 760,000 tonne per year waste incinerator proposed for the Bromelton State Development Area.

Forums will be held at:
§  the Kooralbyn Community Centre, Sunday 12 July at 2.30pm; 
§  the Vonda Youngman Centre, Tamborine Mountain, Saturday 18 July at 2pm; and 
§  the Beaudesert CWA Hall, Saturday 25 July at 2pm. 

If you haven't been to a forum, here's your opportunity. 
Forums are free and open to all community members. No RSVPs required. Come early for refreshments. 

Community response "A big marketing exercise"
Residents who attended Cleanaway's information sessions described coming away unsatisfied. One community member called it "a big marketing gimmick," saying staff inside could not answer basic questions about emissions monitoring, hazardous waste disposal, and the long-term impacts on the region's agricultural land and water supply.

That experience was shared by Rowan, a 14-year-old student from The Kooralbyn International School who attended the Cleanaway session with a prepared list of technical questions. When a staff member explained that burning waste at 850 degrees converts harmful compounds into water, Rowan was unconvinced. "What they're describing requires magical demons in the incinerator," he said. "I don't think chemistry works the way they are claiming."

He also noted a direct contradiction: one Cleanaway staff member told him real-time monitoring of dioxins and furans was not possible. The same staff member later said everything was being monitored continuously. When he asked who would independently audit the monitoring, no one in the room could answer.

An expert panel with insider knowledge
The forums will be hosted by Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic, a subcommittee of BOSS (Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire Inc) and will feature a panel including community members who have participated directly in the BERC Stakeholder Reference Group, the formal community consultation body established by Cleanaway.

Panel members include:
• Erica Bates - President, BOSS (Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire)
• Julie Jackson - Secretary, BOSS (Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire)
• Lizz Hills - Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic, Scenic Rim Citizen of the Year 2024
• Dr Andy Grodecki – President, Consilience Queensland Inc, President, The Royal Society of Queensland

Panel members say they are shocked by what they have learned through the reference group process and what is being proposed for the region.

"This is not a small local issue," said Erica Bates. "This is a 760,000 tonne per year industrial waste processing facility proposed for Queensland's primary food production corridor, with hazardous waste reportedly destined for Ipswich, and no independent baseline air quality monitoring required before approval. Our community deserves a genuine conversation about what that means, not a room full of posters."

What the forums will cover
• What BERC actually proposes: its scale, emissions, waste volumes, and traffic impacts
• History of the campaign so far
• The approval process and how community members can have their say
• How to make an effective submission when the formal public notification window opens
•  What happened at the Cleanaway information sessions and what questions went unanswered 
•  The health and food safety evidence including international biomonitoring research 
•  The effects on roads and local agritourism 
•  How the Scenic Rim campaign connects to a growing national movement opposing waste-to-energy incineration

All welcome. All questions welcome.

Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic and BOSS are committed to the kind of open, evidence-based conversation the community deserves. Everyone is welcome, including those who attended the Cleanaway sessions and want to understand more, those who couldn't attend, and those who are hearing about the proposal for the first time.