Public Environment Report Tarkine Forest Drive ... - Transport

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Shree Minerals propose an additional 34 vehicle movements per day for years 2 to 10 ofthe mine, a 34% increase on the existing traffic movements on these roads(pitt&sherry 2011). Shree have committed to the following actions to mitigate againstthis increase in traffic and increase in risk of roadkill:No product transport will commence post civil twilightA daily worker transport bus will be provided to and from the siteAll employees will be educated on the known roadkill hotspots on the transportnetwork and of the importance of reducing roadkill and of responding appropriatelyif it does occur. This will include encouragement of workers (and the worker bus)to reduce speed to below 50 kph during the dawn to dusk period (pitt&sherry2011).Forestry TasmaniaThere is a large amount of uncertainty in relation to future forestry activities in theTarkine region as a result of the Intergovernmental Agreement (see below). Once thisprocess is resolved, Forestry Tasmania will be reviewing the areas available forharvesting and then develop the appropriate plans accordingly. In any event, all theactivities will be Forestry Activities under the Regional Forest Agreement and thereforeare exempt from the EPBC Act.There are a number of historical and recently active Forestry Tasmania quarries alongthe proposed route. The majority of these sites are not licensed for activities otherthan Forestry operations regulated by the Forest Practices Code. Unless a mining leaseapplication is granted and approval under the Environmental Management andPollution Control Act 1994 is gained, these quarries cannot be used for any otherpurpose. Given the uncertainty around the extent of resource extraction that willoccur in this area (due to the current negotiations around the IntergovernmentalAgreement) and the fact that the proposed Tarkine Forest Drive will now be managedby DIER, it is expected that most of these quarries will see very little extraction overthe next 20 years.Intergovernmental agreementThe Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement was signed by the Prime MinisterJulia Gillard and Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings on 7 August 2011. As part of thisagreement, an Independent Verification Group was established to provide advice to thePrime Minister and the Tasmanian Premier on sustainable timber supply requirementsand areas and boundaries of reserves. The Environmental Non-GovernmentOrganisation’s nominated reserve areas adjacent to the Tarkine Forest Drive are shownabove in Figure 1.2. If agreement between the parties is reached, these areas will notbe available for forestry operations and will be subject to statutory protection (via theTasmanian Forest Agreement Bill 2012, currently before the Tasmanian Parliament).The extent to which these areas will be available for other forms of development willdepend on the nature of the ‘Protection Order’ initiated for a particular area of land.Other Land tenureThere are no private land parcels directly adjacent to the Tarkine Forest Drive route.There are 2 predominant land tenures, Forestry Tasmania reserves (which havepreviously been discussed) and the Arthur Pieman Conservation Area, managed by theTasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.The Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area Management Plan 2002 applies to all use anddevelopment proposed for this Conservation Area. The Arthur–Pieman ConservationArea, a reserve of approximately 103,000 hectares, provides protection for significantareas of Aboriginal cultural heritage, coastal landscapes and wilderness, andecosystems.Ref: HB09080H001 PER Tarkine Drive 33P Rev 00/DL/CL/jw 12
The objectives of conservation areas include encouraging appropriate tourism,recreational use and education based on the purposes of reservation and the natural orcultural values of the conservation area.Prior to any development within this area a Reserve Activity Assessment must beapproved by the Parks and Wildlife Service.1.10 Consequences of not proceeding with the actionThe Tarkine Forest Drive is a high priority community project. Community expectationsare for the original funds allocated to be expended in the area to boost the economyand jobs. Delays in delivering the project will continue to compound construction costsand potentially attract public criticism.The investment of public funds in upgrading the Tarkine Forest Drive to “Tourist Road”standard will result in a high return on investment to government and the community.The proposed Tarkine Forest Drive upgrade will generate a series of economic impactsin terms of employment and a stimulus to Gross State Product (GSP) and furtherimpacts through increased tourism activity. If the project does not proceed, thesemultiple benefits (which are quantified in the Benefit Cost Analysis) will not berealised. Given the economic impact and unemployment due to recent closures ofbusiness such as PaperlinX, McCain’s and the Hampshire Mill, job creation is a highpriority for the North West region.In addition to the well documented socioeconomic benefits from the project, there area number of environmental benefits, as follows.The roadkill mitigating strategy associated with the project includes an extensivecommunity education program, outlined in section 6 of this document. This educationprogram will have benefits that will reach well beyond the project footprint and couldgo some way to reducing roadkill on other roads in Tasmania.DIER has already invested significant resource in baseline and general research aroundroadkill - in particular, proving the success of audible rumble strips as a means ofreducing roadkill. DIER is further committed to regularly monitor roadkill on theTarkine Forest Drive and adapting the mitigation actions in a process of continuallearning – please refer to section 6 for further information.The continual roadkill data collection and further information on successful mitigationoptions adds significantly to the body of information on roadkill and roadkill mitigation.It is well documented that many studies of mitigation measures suffer from a lack ofreplication and statistical control groups (Taylor & Goldingay 2010). The workundertaken to date provides a statistically rigorous baseline to move forward withfurther research and offers lessons to be applied across the entire road network inTasmania.DIER is committed to sharing the results of the research undertaken to date and alsoany further results through the development and implementation of the roadkillmitigation plan. Other State government agencies and organisations (such as DPIPWEand the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program), local government in Tasmania and indeedother State’s road authorities will significantly benefit from the research to date andalso the further monitoring and reporting once mitigation treatments are implemented.These benefits will be lost if the project does not proceed.There are two areas outside the Tarkine Forest Drive (Roger River Road and a 12.8 kmsection of Arthur River Road, north of Arthur River) that are recognised as havingexisting elevated roadkill. As part of the mitigation strategy for the Tarkine ForestDrive the existing hot spots on these roads will have appropriate treatments (rumblestrips) applied – the details are outlined in Section 6. These benefits will be lost if theproject does not proceed.Ref: HB09080H001 PER Tarkine Drive 33P Rev 00/DL/CL/jw 13
Page 1: Public Environment ReportTarkine Fo
Page 4: Figure 4.8 - Distribution of pretty
Page 7 and 8: 1. General informationFor convenien
Page 9 and 10: 1.5 Background to the development o
Page 11 and 12: Extended visitor stays - most visit
Page 13 and 14: Tarkine tourism development strateg
Page 15 and 16: For example:The Tarkine has been id
Page 17: Current mining leasesTasmanian Adva
Page 21 and 22: 2. Description of the actionIn rela
Page 23 and 24: 2.1 Construction programming approa
Page 25 and 26: IDFGHIJKLSectionDescriptionBlackwat
Page 27 and 28: 2.3.1 Construction methodWorker ind
Page 29 and 30: Equipment and machineryThe specific
Page 31 and 32: Figure 2.3 - Proposed bridge replac
Page 33 and 34: Precast concrete piers and abutment
Page 35 and 36: 2.5 Tourism infrastructure worksThe
Page 37 and 38: Table 3.1 - Overview of potential i
Page 39 and 40: 4.1 AltitudeThe Tarkine Forest Driv
Page 41 and 42: 722131 TrowuttaThis land system has
Page 43 and 44: 4.8 Other important or unique value
Page 45 and 46: All potential habitats were inspect
Page 47 and 48: Eagle nest habitatForestry Tasmania
Page 49 and 50: Table 4.3 - Summary of the survey r
Page 51 and 52: PERReferenceNo furtheranalysis inPE
Page 53 and 54: Eight EPBC Act listed threatened fl
Page 55 and 56: Figure 4.2 - Distribution of Arthur
Page 57 and 58: Figure 4.4 - Threatened flora from
Page 59 and 60: Figure 4.5 - Distribution of large
Page 61 and 62: The potential for stochastic risk,
Page 63 and 64: Figure 4.7 - Distribution of northe
Page 65 and 66: The species potentially flowers fro
Page 67 and 68: Figure 4.9 - Distribution of short
Page 69 and 70:
Figure 4.10 - Distribution of weste
Page 71 and 72:
4.10.8 Windswept Spider Orchid (Cal
Page 73:
Known threatsThe key threat to wind
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