Over the last several months, the Magnetic Island community has been debating a Townsville City Council proposal to dump dredge spoil excavated from the Nelly Bay marina and canal estate onto Council-owned land at Kelly St, Nelly Bay. Earthworks have commenced and detailed plans have been submitted to various agencies for approval. The dredged material is presumed to contain, amongst other things, acid-sulphate soils, which are proposed to be remediated by the application of "agricultural lime” within an earth-walled containment enclosure. Council proposes that the remediated product can then be distributed around the island as construction fill.In
The site of the dredge spoil dump on Kelly Street, showing proximity to residences and the National Park. The area bounded in red is the 'Contractor Laydown Area'; the area bounded in blue is the 'Dredge Spoil Management
Area'; and the areas bounded in yellow are the 'Dried Spoil Stockpile Areas'.
Source: SLR Consulting
Australia, Nelly Bay Dredging, EPBC Self-Assessment, 31 January 2025, Revision: 02.
After considering the various assessment documents and listening to the Mayor, Troy Thompson, explain at a MIRRA meeting that he would respond to all communications directed to his office, the executive of MINCA decided to raise our concerns with him. Our letter of 15/10/24 was acknowledged but after a month nothing had happened so we wrote again. Days later the Mayor was suspended from office for 12 months, leaving the dredging issue in limbo. We are currently engaging in direct correspondence with the newly appointed Acting Mayor and councillors and await their response/s. In the meantime, on 15 March this year, we reported a Perceived Breach of the Environmental Law to the Commonwealth (DCEEW). We are publishing these documents below to give the general public some appreciation of the issues we are raising.
15 October 2024: Initial Letter to Mayor Troy Thompson:
Dear Mayor (Thompson)
You may recall that I approached you after a MIRRA candidate forum prior to the mayoral election and handed you a booklet published by MINCA about the World Heritage values of Yunbenun / Magnetic Island. I followed up at a regular MIRRA meeting after your election with a question about the TCC proposal to create a dredge spoil dump and remediation facility at Kelly Street in Nelly Bay.
We are concerned that in a rush to secure a convenient site and avoid potentially costly alternative locations or logistical complexities, Council may be overlooking a critical feature of Magnetic Island’s geographical, constitutional and legal setting: since 1981, Magnetic Island, like all the hundreds of islands on the Great Barrier Reef, has been placed on the World Heritage list. That is, the land area of Magnetic Island itself contributes to the Outstanding Universal Values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area - as outlined in the MINCA publication I gave you, and which has been distributed to all households on the Island.
One of the reasons MINCA published the booklet is that for many years some local residents, and even the previous mayor and some of her staff, have argued that the World Heritage listing only applies to the GBR Marine Park (ie. the water area surrounding the Island) and Magnetic Island National Park, but not to the rest of the island. Many times they have been proven categorically wrong, including by the relevant Federal Minister.
I note that the Amended Dredge Management Plan for the proposed Kelly Street dredge spoil dump states that "the project does not trigger a referral under the EPBC Act". Presumably that is because the Council or its consultants still insist that Magnetic Island is NOT part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area? It could be an expensive and embarrassing mistake for Council to continue to proceed further with the Kelly Street dumping proposal if it has not received appropriate legal advice.
It is possible that TCC thinks it has no choice but to dump and remediate the 10,000 tonnes of dredge spoil somewhere on Magnetic Island. Yet there is a way of avoiding bringing the spoil onshore at all. The Townsville Port Expansion Project has recently completed widening and deepening the Cleveland Bay shipping channel - all the spoil produced was taken in barges to the reclaim area next to the Port. Since the State of Queensland approved and funded the Nelly Bay harbour and marina construction more than 20 years ago, why is Council offering to dump polluted spoil from dredging this harbour on World Heritage-listed Magnetic Island, when there is a capacious, taxpayer-funded, purpose-built and currently functioning offloading facility at the Townsville Port?
Please try to ‘take the community with you’ on this important project. There has been very little community consultation so far so we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to help ensure the best long-term outcome for our beautiful Island, Townsville's "jewel in the Crown".
Charlie McColl
Vice President
MINCA
You may recall that I approached you after a MIRRA candidate forum prior to the mayoral election and handed you a booklet published by MINCA about the World Heritage values of Yunbenun / Magnetic Island. I followed up at a regular MIRRA meeting after your election with a question about the TCC proposal to create a dredge spoil dump and remediation facility at Kelly Street in Nelly Bay.
We are concerned that in a rush to secure a convenient site and avoid potentially costly alternative locations or logistical complexities, Council may be overlooking a critical feature of Magnetic Island’s geographical, constitutional and legal setting: since 1981, Magnetic Island, like all the hundreds of islands on the Great Barrier Reef, has been placed on the World Heritage list. That is, the land area of Magnetic Island itself contributes to the Outstanding Universal Values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area - as outlined in the MINCA publication I gave you, and which has been distributed to all households on the Island.
One of the reasons MINCA published the booklet is that for many years some local residents, and even the previous mayor and some of her staff, have argued that the World Heritage listing only applies to the GBR Marine Park (ie. the water area surrounding the Island) and Magnetic Island National Park, but not to the rest of the island. Many times they have been proven categorically wrong, including by the relevant Federal Minister.
I note that the Amended Dredge Management Plan for the proposed Kelly Street dredge spoil dump states that "the project does not trigger a referral under the EPBC Act". Presumably that is because the Council or its consultants still insist that Magnetic Island is NOT part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area? It could be an expensive and embarrassing mistake for Council to continue to proceed further with the Kelly Street dumping proposal if it has not received appropriate legal advice.
It is possible that TCC thinks it has no choice but to dump and remediate the 10,000 tonnes of dredge spoil somewhere on Magnetic Island. Yet there is a way of avoiding bringing the spoil onshore at all. The Townsville Port Expansion Project has recently completed widening and deepening the Cleveland Bay shipping channel - all the spoil produced was taken in barges to the reclaim area next to the Port. Since the State of Queensland approved and funded the Nelly Bay harbour and marina construction more than 20 years ago, why is Council offering to dump polluted spoil from dredging this harbour on World Heritage-listed Magnetic Island, when there is a capacious, taxpayer-funded, purpose-built and currently functioning offloading facility at the Townsville Port?
Please try to ‘take the community with you’ on this important project. There has been very little community consultation so far so we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to help ensure the best long-term outcome for our beautiful Island, Townsville's "jewel in the Crown".
Charlie McColl
Vice President
MINCA
18 November 2024: Follow up Letter to Mayor Troy Thompson
15 March 2025: MINCA's Report to the Commonwealth (DCCEEW) of a Perceived Breach of Environmental Law
The project of concern is an approved proposal to dredge spoil from Nelly Bay Harbour, Magnetic Island. The dredging will occur in both Great Barrier Reef M arine Park and State/Townsville City Council (TCC) managed marine areas.
The dredged spoil will be transport to TCC-owned land in Kelly Street, Nelly Bay, for treatment.
The consultants that prepared the assessments for the project considered that the project did not need to be referred under the EPBC Act and this advice was accepted uncritically by the GBRMPA, the State Government and TCC.
The Kelly Street land, where the spoil will be treated, is zoned “Community Purposes”. TCC have changed the “permissible uses” for this zone to include “Heavy Industry”. Stockpiling and treatment of dredge spoil is included within the Council definition of “Heavy Industry” so the project has been approved by the State Government and Council without any public consultation.
The project will generate at least 10,000 m3 of dredge spoil in the first year of the project and further maintenance dredging will be required. The total quantities of dredge spoil to result from this one dredging cycle are still uncertain, but are considered by the proponents as an under-estimate. Further dredging cycles will be necessary so this will set a precedent.
The GBRMPA has issued a permit to dredge the Marine Park (G21/43953.1) on the understanding that the final destination for the spoil was Council land on the island in Hurst Street, Picnic Bay. The re-use of this spoil (ie the permitting of an extractive industry in the Marine Park), was not mentioned or considered in this decision.
Council has since made it clear that it intends to use the treated spoil as fill at unspecified locations on the island. The potential impact of this consequential next stage on Matters of National Environmental Significance has not been considered or assessed.
Under the EPBC Act, and the Magnetic Island, Queensland Region EPBC Act policy statement 5.1, “Facilitated impacts that result from further actions that are made possible or facilitated by the action” should have been considered and assessed.
According to the report on the World Heritage Values of Magnetic Island prepared for the Australian Government (Kenchington and Hegerl 2005), the Island is one of the three most ecologically diverse islands in the WHA, and “on its own, makes a significant contribution to meeting World Heritage obligations”. Lowland areas, especially wetlands, and the diverse surrounding marine environments, are highly significant for the island’s natural diversity, and a cornerstone of the Island’s World Heritage Values.
Our main concern is that the dredge material, once treated, will be used opportunistically to fill low-lying areas on the island, leading to direct impacts on ecosystems and hydrology, and leading to additional downstream impacts on the marine environments due to changes in hydrology and water quality.
TCC has shown a consistent disregard towards recognising and protecting the natural hydrology and wetlands on the island for many years, including:
• Facilitating major changes to the catchment of Horseshoe Bay Lagoon (most recently constructing deep drains that have intercepted the natural groundwater flows to the Lagoon and greatly increased the sediment load),
• Diverting urban drainage into Alma Bay Marine National Park,
• Altering natural drainage with roadworks on the highly significant western side of the island, despite numerous consultants reports that have stressed the significance of the wetlands and the need to maintain natural hydrology,
• Discharging treated wastewater into the second largest freshwater wetland on the island and into downstream estuarine and marine protected areas,
• Allowing extensive filling of drainage depressions and swales in urban areas.
Fortunately the shortage of clean fill on the island has acted as a brake on more widespread hydrological disruption. This project, by providing a large quantity of fill that will need to be disposed of, will enable widespread, un- planned, un-assessed, and un-regulated filling of drainage depressions and seasonal watercourses and wetlands across the island.
Being dredge material, the fill will also be mobile with a very high likelihood of being eroded into downstream freshwater and marine environments during our increasingly common high rainfall events.
We believe the impacts of re-use of spoil on the Island could be widespread and consequential, and should have been properly assessed.
We are asking for the project to be halted so that the entire project can be properly evaluated in the light of its likely impact on Matters of National Environmental Significance.
In particular less damaging alternatives for the disposal of dredge spoil need to be found that will avoid further harm to the Island’s World Heritage Values, and those of the surrounding marine environments.
Reference:
Kenchington, R and Hegel, E (2005) World Heritage Attributes and Values Identified for Magnetic Island and the Surrounding Marine Environment. Report prepared for the Australian Government.
The project of concern is an approved proposal to dredge spoil from Nelly Bay Harbour, Magnetic Island. The dredging will occur in both Great Barrier Reef M arine Park and State/Townsville City Council (TCC) managed marine areas.
The dredged spoil will be transport to TCC-owned land in Kelly Street, Nelly Bay, for treatment.
The consultants that prepared the assessments for the project considered that the project did not need to be referred under the EPBC Act and this advice was accepted uncritically by the GBRMPA, the State Government and TCC.
The Kelly Street land, where the spoil will be treated, is zoned “Community Purposes”. TCC have changed the “permissible uses” for this zone to include “Heavy Industry”. Stockpiling and treatment of dredge spoil is included within the Council definition of “Heavy Industry” so the project has been approved by the State Government and Council without any public consultation.
The project will generate at least 10,000 m3 of dredge spoil in the first year of the project and further maintenance dredging will be required. The total quantities of dredge spoil to result from this one dredging cycle are still uncertain, but are considered by the proponents as an under-estimate. Further dredging cycles will be necessary so this will set a precedent.
The GBRMPA has issued a permit to dredge the Marine Park (G21/43953.1) on the understanding that the final destination for the spoil was Council land on the island in Hurst Street, Picnic Bay. The re-use of this spoil (ie the permitting of an extractive industry in the Marine Park), was not mentioned or considered in this decision.
Council has since made it clear that it intends to use the treated spoil as fill at unspecified locations on the island. The potential impact of this consequential next stage on Matters of National Environmental Significance has not been considered or assessed.
Under the EPBC Act, and the Magnetic Island, Queensland Region EPBC Act policy statement 5.1, “Facilitated impacts that result from further actions that are made possible or facilitated by the action” should have been considered and assessed.
According to the report on the World Heritage Values of Magnetic Island prepared for the Australian Government (Kenchington and Hegerl 2005), the Island is one of the three most ecologically diverse islands in the WHA, and “on its own, makes a significant contribution to meeting World Heritage obligations”. Lowland areas, especially wetlands, and the diverse surrounding marine environments, are highly significant for the island’s natural diversity, and a cornerstone of the Island’s World Heritage Values.
Our main concern is that the dredge material, once treated, will be used opportunistically to fill low-lying areas on the island, leading to direct impacts on ecosystems and hydrology, and leading to additional downstream impacts on the marine environments due to changes in hydrology and water quality.
TCC has shown a consistent disregard towards recognising and protecting the natural hydrology and wetlands on the island for many years, including:
• Facilitating major changes to the catchment of Horseshoe Bay Lagoon (most recently constructing deep drains that have intercepted the natural groundwater flows to the Lagoon and greatly increased the sediment load),
• Diverting urban drainage into Alma Bay Marine National Park,
• Altering natural drainage with roadworks on the highly significant western side of the island, despite numerous consultants reports that have stressed the significance of the wetlands and the need to maintain natural hydrology,
• Discharging treated wastewater into the second largest freshwater wetland on the island and into downstream estuarine and marine protected areas,
• Allowing extensive filling of drainage depressions and swales in urban areas.
Fortunately the shortage of clean fill on the island has acted as a brake on more widespread hydrological disruption. This project, by providing a large quantity of fill that will need to be disposed of, will enable widespread, un- planned, un-assessed, and un-regulated filling of drainage depressions and seasonal watercourses and wetlands across the island.
Being dredge material, the fill will also be mobile with a very high likelihood of being eroded into downstream freshwater and marine environments during our increasingly common high rainfall events.
We believe the impacts of re-use of spoil on the Island could be widespread and consequential, and should have been properly assessed.
We are asking for the project to be halted so that the entire project can be properly evaluated in the light of its likely impact on Matters of National Environmental Significance.
In particular less damaging alternatives for the disposal of dredge spoil need to be found that will avoid further harm to the Island’s World Heritage Values, and those of the surrounding marine environments.
Reference:
Kenchington, R and Hegel, E (2005) World Heritage Attributes and Values Identified for Magnetic Island and the Surrounding Marine Environment. Report prepared for the Australian Government.
