Premier asked for environment study

Ross Scott, the former WGCMA waterway manager and Lake Wellington Rivers Authority general manager has written to Premier Daniel Andrews requesting that an environmental effects statement be implemented for the proposed fishway project on the Thomson River.

Mr Scott has requested the process be “called-in” by Planning Minister Richard Wynne for assessment.

He claims the authority’s tender documentation has played down the scope of the works and concealed the adverse environmental impact of the proposed project so it would not trigger the need for an EES.

After receiving final approval for the controversial Thomson River fishway project, the WGCMA called for public tenders in August.

In July this year, Heritage Victoria granted the WGCMA a permit to proceed with the Thomson River Fishway, subject to conditions. Work is expected to begin early next year.

But, Mr Scott said the massive earthworks required to access the river had not been identified, surveyed or quantified.

“The heavy vehicle access road alignment has been vaguely described as following an existing very steep foot track, that has multiple hairpin bends in extremely steep terrain,” he said.

In his letter to the premier, Mr Scott said contract documents state the site must be rehabilitated to its previous condition on completion; but because of the large amount of earthworks required in this steep terrain this will not be possible, and a “massive raw unvegetated scar leading to the river will result.”

Mr Scott said he had extensive experience in river management, but also had been employed on international aid projects in Fiji, PNG and Cambodia as a highway engineer.

Mr Scott claims the fishway project had been fragmented and addressed by a range of consultants in isolation, but not assessed as a total project.

While employed with the WGCMA, Mr Scott said a low impact fishway design was agreed to in 1998 between himself and the Walhalla and Erica communities; the cost being estimated to be $150,000.

He said it was estimated the current proposal would cost in the order of $2.5 million.

Mr Scott said at eight metres wide, the project could be better described as a "raft-way'; not a "fish-way".

Mr Scott said he was appalled that despite Baw Baw Shire’s strong support for the local community and its preferred outcome, DELWP and WGCMA had “pursued this destructive approach.”

He said community ownership should be treated as an asset, not as a threat.

Mr Scott said he had not received replies from Mr Andrews or the number of ministers he had written to.

When announcing the tender documents, WGCMA chief executive Martin Fuller said the final design balanced the significant heritage and cultural values of the site with environmental improvement objectives.

He said Heritage Victoria’s approval was testament to the work that had been done to ensure the project strikes the right balance between heritage and environmental considerations.

“The fishway has been designed to look and function like a natural waterway and it will help restore the river to its original appearance, and preserve the heritage values of the site,” said Mr Fuller.