Wollongong toxic waste site cleared prompting pollution fears for nearby homes, public wetland
"It's over a decade since the Copper Smelter closed down and the fact that this EPL (Environment Protection Licence) is hanging around like a zombie that can be resurrected is really concerning."
"That licence shouldn't just be allowed to hang around for decades."
Cath Blakey, Greens candidate for Wollongong.
Story by Nick McLaren at ABC News Illawarra, 9 Jan 2023.
Story by Ben Langford in the Illawarra Mercury, 30 December 2022.
(Updated 17 August 2023: Primbee copper slag dump has its 'zombie licence' revoked by EPA)
'The warnings are very clear': Wollongong Council adopt climate change adaptation plan
Wollongong Council unanimously adopted its Climate Change Adaptation Plan at Monday night’s meeting.
Former Wollongong councillor and Illawarra Green George Takacs spoke to the council at the beginning of its meeting, urging them to see the plan as the starting point, rather than an end point. “Council must integrate climate change adaptation into everything it does otherwise it runs the risk of adapting on one and maladapting on the other.”
Greens councillor Mithra Cox said she was encouraged by the council’s adoption of the plan, but she said climate change was an issue which is already causing havoc across the country. “The report is bleak, unambiguous and terrifying,” Cr Cox said.
Wollongong Mayor Gordon Bradbery pushed through a motion to pressure building sites to better manage sediment and run-off, especially during rain events. Wombarra Vista townhouse construction site was fined $8000 in accordance with NSW Government‘s Protection of the Environment Operations Act, the maximum penalty. Councillor Cath Blakey said the sanction was “pretty cheap” and asked for Council to write to the Environment Minister Matt Kean to seek an increase in the penalty that was “appropriate to the community’s expectation of seriousness”. The mayor agreed with Cr Blakey and the motion was unanimously passed.
Story by Dylan Arvela in the Daily Telegraph, 15 March 2022.
Wollongong City councillor renews opposition to shark nets
Wollongong City councillor Cath Blakey will call on her fellow councillors to support a submission to NSW's shark management strategy review that will voice opposition to the use of shark nets as a risk mitigation measure.
The Department of Primary Industry figures on the shark nets, obtained by Cr Blakey, show 258 of the 447 animals caught in shark nets on Wollongong and Royal National Park beaches from 2012 to 2020 died - and 167 of these were threatened or protected species.
"They're having a terrible toll on wildlife," Cr Blakey said.
"Shark nets really give us a false sense of security," Cr Blakey said.
The five-year NSW Shark Management Strategy focused on trialling other technologies to minimise the risk of shark bites to beachgoers, including drones, SMART drumlines - which intercept sharks and allow researchers to tag them - and listening stations, which detect tagged sharks within 500 metres and send out an alert. Cr Blakey said options such as these were safer for both humans and wildlife.
Cr Blakey's proposed council submission voices support for drone and helicopter surveillance, listening stations, personal shark deterrent devices, and SMART drumlines, but opposes the use of nets.
Councillors will vote on Cr Blakey's motion on Monday, April 19.
Reported by Natalie Croxon in The Illawarra Mercury, 13 April 2021
Greens announce candidate for Wollongong byelection
The Illawarra Greens have preselected high profile environmentalist Cath Blakey to contest the Wollongong byelection in a democratic rank and file preselection held in Fairy Meadow today.
Read moreCunningham - support for Greens growing in working class southern suburbs
The Illawarra Greens are celebrating a great result in the Wollongong seat of Cunningham, with a 3.1% increase in the Green vote - one of the biggest swings to the Greens in NSW.
Read more