Legislative Council Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Ministerial Statement Ministerial Statement Stansbury Marina STANSBURY MARINA The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:22): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement. Leave granted. The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The state Governor has today accepted the government's advice and consented to give an early no to the Stansbury marina project on Yorke Peninsula. The decision follows the proponent's inability to respond sufficiently to specific concerns raised by industry, the community and state government agencies during the major development assessment process. After the receipt of a draft environmental impact statement in July this year, the proponent was given a further opportunity to address a number of issues relating to the project. The response received from the proponent did not adequately address these community, environmental and industry concerns, which has prompted the decision to issue an early no. There is no appeal available by either proponents or third parties under the Development Act in relation to major developments. The Stansbury marina proposal was declared a major project in March 2007, and environmental impact statement guidelines were issued in the following October. The proponent was subsequently asked to submit an EIS after more than two years had elapsed since the initial major development declaration. The draft EIS received by the Department of Planning and Local Government included revised plans for the Stansbury site that included increasing the residential subdivision from 100 to 200 allotments and reducing the marina berths from 100 to 67. While the proponent offered to reduce the number of housing allotments from 200 to 183 in response to the request to address some concerns with the draft EIS, the number of marina berths remained unchanged. Some critics dismiss the major development declaration powers under the Development Act as a process for fast-tracking approvals. Nothing could be further from the truth. This assessment process is the toughest available under South Australia's planning and development laws. The hurdles that proponents face in terms of producing an adequate response to economic, social and environmental impacts mean that projects need to measure up before an approval can be expected.