The anti-prison group, Westbury Residents Against the Prison, have vowed to collect enough signatures to force the Meander Valley Council to hold a public meeting on the siting of the vexed $270 million Northern Regional Prison.
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The move comes after the council ruled that a WRAP sponsored petition with 800 signatures was not compliant with Local Government rules-so no meeting was required.
The council deemed the petition presented by WRAP in June did not have the necessary 747 signatures because some signatures were not accompanied by a full address.
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The signatures were gathered before the Tasmanian government abandoned its original site, 2.1 kilometres out of Westbury on Birralee Road, to another site 5.2 kilometres away near Brushy Rivulet.
WRAP president Linda Poulton said the council had the discretion to call a meeting despite the shortfall in signatures.
A group opposed to the Brushy Rivulet site renewed their concerns saying the site is on land listed by both the state and federal governments as an Informal Reserve protected for its conservation values.
Concerned Residents Opposed to Prison Site spokesman Aaron Reader said the Land Information System Tasmania showed the land was not only unallocated Crown Reserve at one level but also listed by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment as an Informal Reserve on Public Land under the Tasmanian Reserve Scheme.
"The listings also show that the newly proposed site is recorded as being managed by DPIPWE under the Private Forests Reserve Program," Mr Reader said.
Attorney-General Elise Archer said the Crown land site was originally purchased by the government from a private landholder because it was believed it contained a specific forest type which was not well reserved.
"However, subsequent investigation revealed that the site did not contain this forest type," Ms Archer said.
"Furthermore, the site does not contain pristine forest, but shows evidence of a long history of timber harvesting and, more recently, also illegal firewood collection, stock grazing, rubbish dumping and shooting.
"It's status as an informal reserve has not been changed in the last decade because the site does not contain the values for which it was originally purchased.
"Indeed for more than a decade consideration has been given to allowing the land to be sold."