LAKE KEPWARI
1122. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the Minister for Regional Development:
I ask this question on behalf of Hon
Dr Steve Thomas, who is on urgent parliamentary business.
I refer to page 172 of budget paper No
3 of the 2020–21 state budget, which shows that under the royalties for
regions program, the government has spent $2.6 million on the Lake Kepwari
project to date since 2018–19 and is budgeted to spend $2.5 million
over the next two years.
(1) Will the budgeted funding
complete the project and provide a safe community facility?
(2) Given that
the Labor member for Collie–Preston promised that Lake Kepwari would be
opened within six months of the election of a Labor government in 2017, when
will it be opened?
(3) Has an agreement been reached with Premier Coal
for it to surrender the site to the government; and, if so, on what date
will the site be surrendered; and, if not, when is the agreement expected to be
reached?
(4) What is the current pH of the
water in the lake?
(5) Will the
state government accept all liability for any untoward consequences that might
occur when the public gains access to Lake Kepwari?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank Hon Dr Steve Thomas for the
question. I know he is looking forward to the opening of Lake Kepwari, as many
of us are.
(1) The project
will be completed within the budgeted funding and all action has been taken to
provide a safe community facility. The appropriate areas of water have been
gazetted and closed-water buoys and speed restriction
signs will be installed prior to opening. Ongoing management and maintenance of
Lake Kepwari will be undertaken by the Department of Biodiversity,
Conservation and Attractions' Parks and Wildlife Service, Wellington
District, and will form part of the standard recreation site facility
management and maintenance program.
(2) Lake Kepwari is scheduled to be
opened to the public in December 2020.
(3) The
surrender of the Lake Kepwari area of land from M262SA, as required under
clause 21(7) of the state agreement, and the exemption of the area under the
Mining Act from future mining applications are now complete. That was completed
in August 2020.
(4) The water was
tested by Premier Coal prior to the handover, returning a reading of 7.5 pH.
(5) The
underlying tenure of the land is state forest and the area will still be
managed by DBCA's Parks and Wildlife Service, Wellington District, as a
recreation site.