Hi all,
We’ve had a lot of new names added to the campaign in the past month from events and presentations and thanks everyone for spreading the word far and wide on socials and in conversations with family and friends, and please continue to share our petition.
The feedback we are receiving is clear, the majority of communications people are having confirm the community does not want the proposed Cleanaway Bromelton toxic waste incinerator in the Scenic Rim.
The good news is that we have an opportunity coming up for your voices to be heard!
Come see the team at the new Beaudesert Markets this Saturday 3 October and grab a bumper sticker or badge, add your names and details to our submissions list (see below), sign the petition, ask questions and give us a hand at set up or pack down if you’ve got time .
NEWSFLASH!
We’re planning a Rally in Davidson Park, Beaudesert (the park beside the Council chambers) on Saturday 10 October at 11am.
Make a sign, bring a friend or three, bring a chair or picnic rug, water and snacks, and join with other concerned community members to voice your concerns and show our council, state and federal members that we do not support this proposal and that we don’t want the Scenic Rim to become the Scenic bin for our urban neighbours' waste.
But before the Rally there are more opportunities for you to have your voices heard and to become active in this campaign. There's two more important and urgent dates to take note of:
1 October this Thursday
We’ve been advised that the Office of the Coordinator General public consultation period for the Cleanaway toxic waste incinerator is expected to open for submissions on 1 October for a 30 business day period closing in mid November.
We already have a team going forensically through the technical reports Cleanaway has already released, and when the full application is publicly online they will turn their attention to these documents and create a variety of sample submissions to assist you in lodging your own submissions.
We are also now preparing two submissions and asking for community members to sign these to add weight to our case to the Coordinator General. We simply need your permission to add your name. You can do this at the Beaudesert markets this Saturday 3 October, or there again on Saturday 7 November, or at the Rally in the Park 10 October. We are organising an online permission page, and we will let you know when this is available.
Believe it or not, Cleanaway have not done an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for the proposal. We believe this should be part of their application given the scope and size of the project, the toxicity of incineration of waste, and the land, air, waterways and wildlife in the vicinity of the Bromelton area.
We will be sending a submission demanding that a full EIS be undertaken by Cleanaway. Your signature added to this submission will add great weight. Please consider this and sign in person on paper, as above.
2 October this Friday
As you may know the Council of Mayors South East Queensland (CoMSEQ) withdrew its original application for authorisation to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC issued their draft determination on 21 August which did not support the CoMSEQ application.
The original CoMSEQ application, lodged in April on behalf of eleven South East Queensland councils, sought authorisation to jointly procure residual waste management services under a 35-year contractual arrangement, the kind of long-term commitment that would underpin industrial-scale waste incineration in the region.
The new revised application differs from the earlier application. In particular, CoMSEQ is now seeking authorisation for a three year period of preparatory and planning activities and have stated that the proposed conduct will not extend to binding agreements for waste supply, construction, financing, or facility operation. The application further indicates that no feedstock will be committed and no procurement decisions will be made during this interim period.
These limitations substantially reduce some of the immediate competition concerns raised by the previous application. However, the preparatory activities contemplated during this three-year period could still have a significant influence on the structure and outcomes of any subsequent regional procurement process.
It is still very important to make a submission on this new application suggesting that the ACCC ensure additional safeguards guarantee the planning process remains open and competitive, and doesn't inadvertently narrow the range of future options or constrain effective competition before a final procurement decision is made.
Submissions in relation to this second application, are due by Friday 2 October, before the ACCC makes its final decision.
Many of you sent submissions to the ACCC supporting their draft determination, and we thank you. Now it’s time to make a new submission and send it through by this Friday Oct 2. Thank you to those who have already done so for this round, and to those who put pen to paper in the next couple of days.
Apologies for the short notice, but we have prepared sample responses to support you for this second CoMSEQ application.
Please send your submission asap using the ACCC submissions webform.
For short submissions, you can provide a free text submission of up to 2,000 characters (a few paragraphs) for publication on the public register, or for longer submissions, please upload your submission in a document.
These sample submissions will open as google docs, which you can either download or copy and paste the content where you need it, like a word document.
ACCC short form submission 2A (free text submission)
ACCC short form submission 2B (free text submission)
ACCC long form submission 2A (to be sent as an attachment)
ACCC long form submission 2B (to be sent as an attachment)
ACCC long form submission 2C (to be sent as an attachment)
ACCC long form submission 2D (to be sent as an attachment)
If you can reword your submissions based on these samples to enable them to be counted as different individual responses, that would be great. Otherwise send as is.
It will only take about five or ten minutes. Your name will appear on the public register, your email and phone won't.
So in a nutshell;
Thursday 1 Oct Office of the Coordinator General is expected to open the public submission period for the Cleanaway Bromelton toxic waste incinerator.
Friday 2 Oct ACCC public submission period closes for the CoMSEQ new revised application. Submissions urgently required.
Saturday 3 Oct No Incinerator for Scenic Rim team at the new Beaudesert Markets in Davidson Park. Come visit us!
Saturday 10 Oct Rally in Davidson Park, Beaudesert 11am. Come along, bring a sign, bring your voice and join our call to council.
It’s going the be a very busy time through October! Keep spreading the word, put pen to paper (so to speak), keep your chins up, let’s Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic! Remember ….together we CAN move mountains!!
Thank you from the
Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim Campaign Team
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim Petition
No Incinerator for the Scenic Rim blog
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim! Facebook Group
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim! Linktree