Open, transparent consultation for South Coast Marine Park on Esperance shire president’s Christmas wish-list

An open and transparent consultation period for the South Coast Marine Park is on Shire of Esperance president Ron Chambers’ Christmas wish-list, with hopes local voices will be listened to before an outcome is set in stone. Mr Chambers’ bid to delay the start of community consultation until after the festive season was successful, with his attention now turning to what the submission period for the controversial park will look like. Many in the Esperance region are still concerned about where the process will leave the fishing industry in the future, with those in the professional and recreational sectors fearing for their livelihoods. Mr Chambers met representatives from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions this week, with the meeting originally set to discuss new zoning maps, but with the delay confirmed it was instead a general update. With consultation now expected to start in the new year, Mr Chambers confirmed he had not seen the new draft maps which were expected to be released ahead of the consultation period. Mr Chambers told the Kalgoorlie Miner he hoped a considerable amount of work had been done since the initial no-go zoning plans proved controversial. “I’m hoping it (the consultation) is very open and transparent, and that local people and the people it actually affects are listened to,” he said. “I understand the need for conservation. I don’t have an issue with conservation, and I could see why they would want to put some large sanctuary zones down here on the south coast. “It is relatively pristine and most of the coastline down here doesn’t see a lot of human interaction so it’s an ideal opportunity to get hold of some of that country and preserve it.” However, when dealing with “thousands of kilometres of coastline” and “millions of hectares” of ocean, Mr Chambers said it needed to be handled with a balanced approach. “Where the issues comes down to is finding a balance between what is general purpose where people can do what they do now, and what is going to be the sanctuary zones, and the reasoning behind those sanctuary zones and the impact,” he said. “I really encourage people to keep an ear to the ground, listen to the media, and when the submissions open and when the plans are released — take the time to have a look. “They’re saying they’re going to have some really good fine-scale data on the maps — almost like Google Maps — that you can zoom right into your area, where you go camping or where you go fishing, and see whether the park or the sanctuary zones are going to impact you. “You can make that submission. It may not mean that there’s a change made to the actual plans, but it will certainty mean that your voice will be heard and I think that’s really important.” Mr Chambers shared the community’s concerns about the consultation timeline with the State Government, after the “buzz” around town was that it would start before the holiday break. “This is their busy time of the year. They’ve not really got time to sit down and seriously look at something like that and write a submission and everything that involves,” he said. “It’s also Christmas time, when people are supposed to be sitting back and enjoying family and friends, celebrating and having a good time. “If the map showed that they had reduced the sanctuary zones and there was going to be very little impact on recreational and professional fishers, it probably would have given them something to be even more joyous about over Christmas. “But history tells us, and the maps that have been out before this, show there’s going to be an impact and probably a fairly negative impact on those industries. Is that really something you want those guys dealing with over that Christmas time, when there’s not really a lot they can do about it?” Shadow fisheries minister Col de Grussa told the Miner he also welcomed the move to postpone consultation to the new year, but said the already lengthy process — with, in his view, little communication — was becoming more and more untenable for stakeholders. “I would think when you’re making a decision like this it should take a long time, but that you should be engaging all the time,” he said. “Obviously it’s gone on for a long time with no communication. That is probably the most stressful aspect to the whole thing because they (stakeholders) just don’t know what’s happening. Are they about to find out their business is gone?” Mr de Grussa said there had been concerns raised with the State Government about the mental health of those with livelihoods at stake from the process’ start. “The longer they delay, and don’t communicate, I think the worse that gets,” he said. “It’s probably May by the time they finish that consultation period ... and then of course they’ve got to go through all those submissions and determine (an outcome) so really it’s going to be quite a lengthy process to go still.” A State Government spokesperson told the Miner on Tuesday community feedback would “remain an integral part” of the process. “As has been publicly stated, consultation will be extensive and thorough in keeping with the Cook Government’s commitment to open and transparent consultation,” the spokesperson said.