chook farm concerns from resident re weather events

From: Tony Wellington [[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, 28 November 2013 8:16:15 AM
To: Jack Lewis
CC: Kerri Coyle
Subject: chook farm concerns re weather events
Hi Jack and Kerri,
I received the following two emails from a resident who lives downstream from the proposed site for the Top Forestry Rd Chicken Farm. He has reasonable concerns regarding rainfall events and the impact they might have on the local watercourse. It is certainly worth noting the frequency of extreme rainfall events in the Cooroy area over recent years - in particular the February 2012 event that in Cooroy was the highest ever recorded in the Sunshine Coast.
Cheers
Tony
Tony I own the next farm downstream from the proposed Broiler Farm in Top Forestry Rd. I work away a lot and like most residents in the street didnt even know the proposal was out there. Im presently in Sarawak working but hope to be home for the next council meeting. I was wondering has anyone got together rainfall statistics for the area. We have several 300mm ovenight rain events in the last few years. I know as ive lost my fences when Blackfella Creek floods, ie the day Pomona flooded was one of them. There is absolutely no way, especially it being hilly country, that that rainfall and manure can be retained on the property. So we will have hundreds of tons of highly nitrongenous waste getting flushed into the creek. I have platypus and turtles living in the holes in the creek on my property, less than 1 klm downstream. These hundreds of tons of waste will then not only pollute the whole of Blackfella Creek will also wash into the Mary River threatening the species living there that everyone is so concerned about. How this has escaped the EPA or whoever does the environmental impact studies is beyond me. What are planning departments employed for if their advice is ignored is another that amazes me. Ive missed most of the goings on in regards to this matter as bussiness has had me out of the country for most of this year but how this application has got this far defies logic. Its the totally wrong topography for such a venture not to mention enviromnetally sensitive creeks and forest downstream.Then the rest of the pollution, dust, vehicles etc that comes with it as well.
I hope this rediculous situation can be stopped and if there is anything I can do to help please let me know. I will be home second week of December.
Ph 54475117 or 0408475117
Regards
Glenn Chaplin
Thanks for your response Tony. I have seen what these heavy rainfall events do in the valley and the developer wopuld need walls mlike Borumba Dam to contain the water/chook manure from washing off the site. 1500mm average rainfall some years its a lot higher. I hope it gets defered to our hopefully still environmentally conscious Noosa Council. Have the other councillors been to view the sitre at all to see how unsuitable it is. I cant recall seeing broiler farms in this type of terrain anywhere.
Keep up the good work.
Glenn Chaplin