Sam had noticed some increased boating activity on the Inlet but thought little of it. It was the beginning of the high season and people came from all over the state to holiday in and around Quarabup, and every second SUV that arrived in town was either towing a runabout or had a tinnie ties to its roof. At the height of the season they resemble worker ants around a nest - travelling back and forth across the inlet from one favourite fishing spot to another, looking for that elusive King George Whiting that may have been trapped in the inlet over the summer.
There were some boats, however, that seemed to travel differently around the inlet. They weren't like the other fishing boats either. They seemed to be trawling systematically from north to south banks of the inlet as if looking for every hole and weed bank that could shelter fish. The crews were also a bit different from the usual holiday crowd - a mix of young adults and older folk, but definitely not in holiday mood.
One day, while Sam was filling up at Mike Faragher's garage he overheard a bloke with one of these boats explaining to Mike that they were from one of the Universities up in Perth. That would explain it - geography students practicing marine mapping and echo-sounding and the like. That would also explain why there were five or six similar boats and crews - a whole lot of students in the class. Sam thought no more of it.
What he did notice in the Tribune was a trickle of letters to the Editor challenging the Council to withhold any approval for the Canals project until they could prove it would not hurt the fragile eco-system of the inlet. One of the letters was from the chairman of the local fishing co-op, Bernie Tucker. Bernie was not known for being outspoken, so it was something for Sam to take note of. Who would have gotten onto him to do that? Maybe his members. Maybe others. Soon the usual suspects from among the ferals started chipping in. Springtime Kestrel wrote a wonderful piece - you've gotta give it to these people sometimes, when they wax lyrical about stuff.
"Sir, I think it is about time the residents of Quarabup stood up for the welfare of our Inlet. We all know the Canals project is going to be an eyesore and it will have a serious detrimental effect on the birds and fish that people from all over the state come to see. We don't want out little village to become a satellite village of Mandurah where canal developments have destroyed essential wetland habitat for unique migratory birds. The same thing could happen here for our birds. We want to urge Council to undertake a proper and scientific assessment of the impact the proposal could have on the Inlet."
So it came as no surprise, really, at the next Shire Council Meeting that Councillor Italiano used the indulgences time at the end of the meeting to raise a question of the CEO about what kind of environmental assessment was being required of the Canal proposers. The Shire CEO, Mike Watson, had not been expecting this question having had much of his attention taken up lately with Council arrangements to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of whatever School Leavers activities would descend on Quarabup in the next week or two. Each year they seemed to be getting worse, and he had been looking at ways in which other coastal towns had been taking some initiative to prevent difficulties rather than reacting to them. So all Cr Italiano got from him was some rather incoherent mutterings.
Sam took over when Mike was finished and tried to sweep it all under the carpet. "The inlet," he said "covered nearly 50 square kilometres and the canals would encroach little more than one kilometre into the inlet for not more than three kilometres along its bank. That's barely five percent of the total inlet. There is no way this is going to have any significant detrimental effect on the inlet either in the wetlands surrounding it or in the waters themselves."
Cr Muldoon chipped in to what was looking more like an orchestrated attack than it really was. "But what about the fishery? I really think we are dealing with something ore fragile than you would think, and I, for one, will not be passing any planning approval for this project until we have done some sort of a survey. Spandos has to do something as part of the proposal, but I wouldn't trust them to offer us anything other than a report that supported their proposal. We need to do our own independent assessment."
Mike Watson, ever the peacemaker offered to take steps to see what would be needed - and how much it would all cost. He wasn't even sure if the Council was permitted to conduct its own independent study in order to verify or challenge a proposal for a development. The meeting closed, but it was clear that Tony Cassidy thought he had the substance for his next front page.
The next afternoon the Tribune banner proclaimed Blue Lagoon threatened by Canals. In sensationalist language, Cassidy portrayed the Council as being "all at sea" over whether or not the Canals Project would be detrimental for the ecology and economy of the inlet. It was clear that the developers were required to prepare and present an Environmental Impact Statement with their proposal, but Councillors were clearly cautious about the potential objectivity of that Environmental Impact Statement and were considering undertaking their own "independent" assessment as a gesture of Council doing due diligence in informing themselves before considering the proposal.
That weekend the ferals were out in force. They had taken over a corner of the old Parade Ground, set up tents and banners, tables and handouts. They had drummers, jugglers and other odd sorts all designed to attract people's attention. There would be a big public announcement they said at eleven am. In the mean time the kids were all having a go at juggling and banging drums and their parents were being coerced into signing a petition asking Council to deny the Spandos Canal proposal on Environmental grounds.
Sam's first thoughts about this were that it would at least take the spotlight of his relationship with Spandos - but then he realised if this got out of control, the whole proposal could fall over. Not only would he lose his chance of a windfall, he would actually lose a whole lot of outlays he had already made on the strength of the proposal. He thought he had better hang about till eleven to see what they had to say.
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