Minister gazettes Seaport design change

Minister for Planning Stephan Knoll has today gazetted a revision to the original declaration of his predecessor, in which the proposed Kangaroo Island Seaport was to be assessed under Section 46 of the Development Act – Major Projects.

In his declaration today, Minister Knoll has incorporated a specific reference to a jetty structure. This enables the orderly assessment of the revised design that was developed by KIPT in response to community and agency feedback and which was announced on September 20, 2019.

This revised design is for a fully piled jetty structure extending about 650m offshore. It thereby avoids any dredging or any interruption to natural water circulation processes, while increasing the separation to sensitive receptors. In particular, the new design does not elevate the likelihood of the nearby onshore abalone farm drawing in seawater that is affected by its own waste discharge.

An addendum to KIPT’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to incorporate the revised design will be lodged with the Minister’s Department. The Minister has discretion to conduct further public consultation on the revised marine design before the finalisation by KIPT of its EIS Response Document, which is the last step in submitting the project for assessment.

The Company remains confident of a favourable outcome. It thanks the Minister for ensuring that the enabling major project declaration now reflects the character of the proposal as it has evolved in response to issues raised during the public consultation period conducted by his Department.