Kerry Finch : MLC : Independent Member for Rosevears

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Hansard of the Legislative Council
Tuesday 14 November 2007
QUESTIONS
PULP MILL - WATER PIPELINE

[2.45 p.m.]
Mr FINCH (Question)- Can the Leader give an indication of how much private land will be affected by the routing of the water pipeline to the proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley? Do private land-holders have the right to refuse to have the pipeline cross their land?

Mr PARKINSON - I thank the honourable member for his question. In relation to the matter of private land transected by the proposed water and effluent pipelines, Gunns is required under the permit to negotiate with private owners to come to a commercial arrangement for a legal easement for the ongoing operation of its pipeline and access rights during construction. There is no compulsory acquisition process provided in the permit for this or any other pulp mill purpose. Consequently, the Government is not aware in detail of the exact impact on private property owners of the pipelines. That is a matter for Gunns. However, the Government anticipates that a large proportion of both pipelines will be constructed on crown land or contained within existing road reservations. The actual number of private properties involved will not be known until Gunns has finalised its preferred route for both pipelines. However, based on details of the pipeline corridors provided to the Government for other purposes, the pipeline lengths are as follows and we have estimated for the maximum number of private properties involved. The water pipeline is 39.8 kilometres long and it is estimated it may pass through up to 37 properties. The effluent pipeline is 22.7 kilometres and it is estimated that it may pass through up to nine properties. More details can be found in the permit LU1 condition 2.7 regarding the water supply pipeline and condition 2.38 regarding the waste water pipeline and under permits LU3 and LU4, condition 2.6.

For question two, the answer is, yes.