Save Point Lowly is a community action group based in

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta i ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The group was formed circa 2008 to present an alternative vision for the future of the

Point Lowly Point Lowly is the tip of a small peninsula north north-east of Whyalla in the Upper Spencer Gulf region of South Australia. The wider peninsula is shared by a combination of defence, industrial, residential, recreational and tourism interests ...

area north-west of Whyalla and resist plans for heavy industrialization. The group aspired to raising the profile of the

area, including the giant Australian cuttlefish aggregation, which the group believes is under threat from a number of industrial proposals including: a seawater

desalination plant Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltw ...

for BHP Billiton's

Olympic Dam mine The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world. Copper is the largest contributor ...

, a

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

distribution hub, a technical

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

plant (which has since been abandoned) and an iron ore export facility. Collectively these development have been referred to by the Government of South Australia as the Port Bonython Minerals Precinct. The group's spokesperson and chairman is Andrew Melville-Smith who is a practising veterinarian and resident of Whyalla.

Activity

The group has been engaged in petitioning, disseminating information to the public, lobbying of local and State government and protest activity since 2008. In 2009 the group staged a protest at the Whyalla airport, confronting Premier

Mike Rann Michael David Rann, , (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and Australian am ...

and visiting ministers including

Paul Holloway Paul Holloway (born 20 August 1949) is an Australian politician who represented the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party in the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Mitchell from 1989 to 1993, and in the South Australia ...

. The protest was an effort to represent their views regarding the preservation of Point Lowly and to request hearings with the Premier and his cabinet after allegedly being denied the opportunity through formal channels. The group was publicly opposed to the location of the proposed desalination plant, and has suggested that an alternative location on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula was possible, and could be powered by wind-generated renewable energy. The group has also opposed the proposal to build a new iron ore export facility at Port Bonython, describing its location as "third rate" and drawing attention to the red dust impacts of Onesteel's (now Arrium) iron ore exports from Whyalla. Additional concerns include the potential for increased shipping to disturb the breeding grounds for giant Australian cuttlefish and other marine life. Concerns over shipping noise impacting the future of the cuttlefish breeding ground has also been expressed by the

Marine Life Society of South Australia Established in 1976, the Marine Life Society of South Australia is a long-standing incorporated association which aims to foster the study and appreciation of marine life and encourage marine conservation engagement in South Australia. The societ ...

. The Save Point Lowly group campaigned to have the peninsula rezoned from industrial to recreational and tourism but was unsuccessful. The

Alternative Port Working Party The Alternative Port Working Party is a community action group based in Whyalla, South Australia on the shore of northern Spencer Gulf. Its membership includes a number of retired engineers with experience in mining, shipping and bulk commodities h ...

has continued to campaign for rezoning since the Save Point Lowly group became inactive in 2011.

Status

The group has been inactive since 2011, the same year in which the Olympic Dam mine expansion plans received state and federal environmental approvals. A Facebook group still exists for Save Point Lowly. At its height, the group had hundreds of members. The Facebook group's membership was greatly reduced (by hundreds) during an upgrade of Facebook's group management system. In 2012, the Save Point Lowly website was archived by the State Library of South Australia and remains available via Pandora.

External links

Save Point Lowly
{{cbignore, bot=medic(archived via Pandora, May 2012)

References

Community activists