Lawyers’ beak picture
Black Swan protesters fire off letter to turf club
LAWYERS for residents opposed to the filling in of Black Swan Lake have fired off a letter to the Gold Coast Turf Club warning legal action if work is not stopped.
The letter from Wilson Haynes lawyers was sent to the turf club’s chief executive officer.
“We are in the process of taking urgent instructions as to what can be done to stop the current activity of filling in the water body,” the letter said.
“We are being asked to advise on the prospects for success of an urgent injunction to have all the work stopped.”
Black Swan Lake group spokesperson Tammy Hogan told the Bulletin: “We have a financial backer for our legal fight over Black Swan Lake and we are in it for the long haul”.
The turf club has told members it had been “compliant with environmental considerations and the majority of community agree that this toxic pit needs to be cleaned up”.
A turf club spokesperson yesterday said the club did not wish to comment.
In the letter to the turf club, lawyers argued:
The water body being filled up was the only fresh water supply for the entire area apart from the botanic gardens. The swans could not be relocated to the gardens due to the territorial nature of the species. Historically, the Bundall lake was part of the Great Swamp of the Gold Coast. The government’s wetland mapping section regarded it not as a borrow pit but endangered wetland. Scientific water analysis showed the lake was not toxic. Lawyers also claimed the local native title holders had not been notified or contacted, as required by law, about the lake being filled in.
“And they are now seeking legal advice from their Jabree (lawyers), as they are totally opposed to this activity,” the legal letter said.
The turf club was reminded of two Corruption Commission investigations about potential conflict of interests for councillors who voted on the “borrow pit” application.
“If the CCC outcome is unfavourable to the respondents, it will bring into question the legality of your project and such permits as you might have obtained, and any works carried out by your organisation,” the letter said.
Residents were at the lake yesterday as machinery removed foliage around the lake.
They alerted a spotter catcher about a family of ducks moving in front of a growing “mud pile” in the lake.