DEAR News Of The Area,

I SHOULD make a few observations about the response by Len Roberts to my recent letter about dredging in the Myall River.

I am well aware of Len’s former role in the Port Stephens and Great Lakes Estuary Management Committee.

I am also well aware of, and respect, the valuable role played by Gordon Grainger and the Myall River Action Group in initiating the ecological health study and the gathering of data.

I am also well aware of the history of Myall Point and the creation of the northern (Corrie Island) channel so I don’t dispute any of his statements about these points.

But Len has made a couple of curious statements about the Coastal Waters Science Unit’s study and the subsequent ecological condition report.

Firstly, for some reason, he refers to the study leader, Dr Peter Scanes, as “a bureaucrat”.

Dr Scanes recently retired after a distinguished forty year career as an award winning, hands-on, marine and estuarine ecologist.

He would be much better described as a “scientist”, in which capacity he led the study team and co-authored the report.

Secondly, Len dismisses the group’s conclusion that “the ecological health of the river is excellent” as “a falsehood” because at times of restricted flow through the short cut entrance, such as existed during the study period, the lower river is in a more estuarine than marine condition.

Despite the fact that the Science Unit found “a broad range of ecological health indicators” confirmed the health of the river at a time when there were considerable community concerns about it, Len still seems unwilling to accept it.

Regards,
Col NICHOLSON,
Hawks Nest.