Radioactive trash dump would damage tourism – Sally’s Flat residents say “NO”

Sallys Flat should be removed from nuclear waste shortlist, residents say, ABC News 13 Nov 15 By Joanna Woodburn, Residents have slammed a proposal to store nuclear waste at Sallys Flat, near the historic gold mining village of Hill End in New South Wales’ central west.

The Federal Government has shortlisted six sites to potentially house a nuclear waste storage facility, including Sallys Flat, in the Bathurst district. Near the village of Hill End, the area boomed during the 1850s gold rush and remains a major tourist attraction, according to the local progress association.

The association’s Ross Brown said the historical significance and population of the area made it a poor choice for a nuclear facility…….

On its website, the Hill End and Tambaroora Progress Association described Hill End as a “well-preserved gold-mining ghost town”, which draws thousands of tourists each year……….

Bathurst Climate Action Network head Tracy Carpenter said Bathurst, which is an hour away from Sallys Flat, had been a sister city with Okuma in Japan, one of the towns affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. “People cannot occupy [Okuma] since the tsunami and earthquake and the result [of] the nuclear disaster, and now we’re being slated as an area to dump nuclear waste,” she said. “It’s just appalling.”…….

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley said he would be surprised if the site was chosen……….”I think people in New South Wales will take an enormous amount of convincing for such a repository to be placed in our state, somewhere around Bathurst.

“We’re not talking about the outback, we’re talking about a pretty well populated area.”…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-13/take-sallys-flat-off-nuclear-waste-shortlist-residents-say/6937442

November 13, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | New South Wales, Opposition to nuclear, wastes

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