Support THE court challenge to save Arm End Reserve
Save Arm End Nature Recreation Reserve and the Spotted Handfish before it's too late! We urgently need your help to protect this precious land and its unique wildlife. The Arm End Nature Recreation Area, located in beautiful Tasmania, is under threat from a Victorian-based developer who wants to build a private golf course, clubhouse, and infrastructure on public land. This construction would cause significant harm to one of the last remaining populations of the critically endangered spotted handfish.
The Tasmanian Conservation Trust (TCT) has commenced legal proceedings in the Supreme Court to have the golf course permit invalidated. But we can't do it alone. We need your support to fund this vital legal battle. Every dollar you donate will help us fight for the survival of this precious reserve and the handfish.
Arm End is a beloved natural area that sits at the mouth of the Derwent estuary. It is loved by local residents and visitors with breathtaking views across the Derwent to Bruny Island and kunanyi/ Mt Wellington. The peninsula is home to at least a dozen sites significant to Tasmania Aboriginal community and is formally reserved as the Gellibrand Point Nature Recreation Area, adjacent to the Opossum Bay Marine Conservation Area. This area is also the breeding habitat for one of the last remaining populations of the critically endangered spotted handfish.
We estimate that the legal battle could cost us up to $100,000. But we can't let this developer destroy this beautiful and culturally significant land. We urge you to make a tax-deductible donation to the Tasmania Conservation Trust today. Together, we can save Arm End Nature Recreation Reserve and the Spotted Handfish from destruction.
Help us fund our Supreme Court Challenge
You can help
The Tasmanian Conservation Trust is Tasmania's oldest nature conservation Organisation. For over 50 years we have protected Tasmania's threatened native species in partnership with communities all over the state. Now we need your help to protect the handfish and this precious nature recreation area at Arm End. If every person reading this were to give $100, we would reach our goal after only 1,000 donations. We have secured some of the best lawyers in the country to help us fight this case.
Every little bit helps (Click the links above, or use the embedded form, bank account details below).
Bank details:
Account Name: Tasmanian Conservation Trust
BSB: 067 000
Account Number: 2804 3114
Reference: “Your name.Arm End”
Or send a cheque or money order to:
Tasmanian Conservation Trust
PO Box 374
South Hobart, TAS 7004
If you have any queries about the court case or donating, please get in touch with Peter McGlone via peter @ tct.org.au (with the spaces removed) or 0406 380 545.
Update 23 November 2023
TCT court proceedings regarding the proposed Arm End Reserve golf course
On 23 June 2023 the Tasmanian Conservation Trust commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court of Tasmania regarding the long-delayed golf course proposed for the Arm End Reserve at Opossum Bay near Hobart.
It has been a long time since we updated you regarding the court case, so I thought you would like to know what has been happening.
But first a quick reminder of what we aim to achieve with the court case, what our strategy is and why we are concerned about the golf course.
The TCT's goal in taking the court case is to seek a declaration from the court that the planning permit for the golf course has lapsed and no further works can be undertaken in relation to the proposed development.
In our application to the Court, the TCT asserts that the proponent has failed to substantially commence the golf course development by the purported statutory deadline of 1 October 2022 and as a result the planning permit issued by Clarence City Council has lapsed.
Although the court case does not seek to assess the impacts of the proposed development, we believe that Arm End Reserve is a very special place and it is totally inappropriate to build a golf course there.
The impact of the proposed golf course and associated facilities on Arm End Reserve would be devastating. A golf course would degrade the recreational enjoyment and visual beauty of Arm End, destroy Aboriginal heritage and degrade remnant native vegetation. There are also marine values, in particular the spotted handfish, in an adjacent marine reserve that could be severely impacted by run-off from the golf course.
Since we last contacted you about our court case a lot has been happening behind the scenes.
On 27 September 2023 the court agreed to a timetable for preparing the case for hearing. Lawyers for both sides have been busy providing the court with the documents that each will rely on in arguing its case. This legal process is called discovery and we are hopeful this will be completed soon.
A date for finalising the case has not been established but we understand that it will not be before March 2024. We will notify you when the final date has been set.
The discovery phase has provided the TCT with hundreds of documents about the proposed Arm End golf course, including documents that have never been available to us before. Due to legal process, we cannot release the content of these documents at this time, but we will release them when we are allowed to.
There has been some recent media commentary by the golf course proponent about a water treatment plant they propose at Blackmans Bay. This is proposed to treat water (from the Blackmans Bay sewerage treatment plant) before it is piped to Arm End . The treatment plant and pipeline have different planning permits to the golf course and so are not central in our court case. We understand the permit for the pipeline is still in force but the pipeline is only partially constructed. The treatment plant is currently being assessed and is open for public comment. The TCT will make a representation on the development.
Further comments:
Peter McGlone
CEO
Tasmanian Conservation Trust
0406 380 545
peter@tct.org.au
Further comments:
Peter McGlone
CEO
Tasmanian Conservation Trust
0406 380 545
peter@tct.org.au