Residents say they are in the dark over Barneson project
THE Planning Department has rejected claims by a resident group alleging a lack of consultation about the Barneson Blvd Project.
The One Mile Dam residents group say they have been left in the dark about the proposed project, which will run 50m from the boundary of some of their homes.
At a forum hosted by community group ‘STOP Barneson Boulevard’ on Thursday last week, One Mile Dam spokeswoman Mindy Timber said DIPL had previously committed to consult with residents about the project, but that promise had fallen through.
STOP Barneson Boulevard spokesman Nick Kirlew said: “We’ve been told that the mangrove trees near One Mile Dam currently provide a filtering system for the run-off from the old Shell tank farm.
“Once they are removed to make way for Barneson Blvd, the pollution will flow straight into the Duck Pond and the harbour.” But department spokeswoman Louise McCor- mick said One Mile Dam residents were consulted and provided input to them.
“They (the residents) would like to maintain a walking connection to the city,” she said.
“Shared paths will be provided into the city.
“They requested a bus stop for older people to be able to have better access public trans- port. We have already been able to accommodate this.”
She said the department had never claimed there was zero contamination at the site.
“We have said there were low levels detected and we were consulting with NTEPA on our proposed clean-up and management of those materials.