Other Issues

26 April 2001

After the bridge, the court action remains...

The Conservation Council of SA and three of its committee members (current President Margaret Bolster, Richard Owen and past President - Prof David Shearman) are being sued by private developers Tom, Wendy and Andrew Chapman, in a major defamation action relation to the Hindmarsh Island Bridge matter.The legal action is an outcome of CCSA's long term efforts to protect the River Murray estuary and Coorong Ramsar listed wetland.

The trial has been set down to commence on 2 July for six weeks of hearings, in the Supreme Court. We need to raise a further $50 000 to be defended in court. This is the third time CCSA has been sued by the Chapmans, but this will be the first time a case has come as far as trial. CCSA has already gone to great lengths to defend this highly complex case -being successful thus far in having a third of the original claims struckout or withdrawn.

The ongoing effect of this law suit has been to significantly constrain CCSA in its ability to campaign for SA's environment. The implications for the whole conservation movement in Australia, should developers be successful in suing a state's peak conservation body, are immense. A national appeal has commenced, to all Australian conservationists, to assist CCSA to fend off this action, and in doing so to assert the rights of community groups to comment on matters of public concern.

We need your help now, as never before. Your donation to our 'Legal Defence Appeal' will enable the Conservation Council to mount a strong defence and stop a dangerous precedent being set. The next 4 month's preparation is critical for the future of the Conservation Council, and those officers being sued.

For more information contact the ECNT:
Phone: 08 8981 1984
Email: ecnt@octa4.net.au

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