Ports Corporation of Queensland - Our Ports

COMMUNITY

PCQ actively supports and engages with the communities surrounding the Port of Hay Point. In the last two years, PCQ has undertaken a range of local community support initiatives, including:

award of scholarships to local school students, to assist with tertiary studies;
assistance with the repair and maintenance of local community sporting facilities; and
provision of funding/sponsorship support for local community events.

At Hay Point, PCQ facilitates a quarterly Community Reference Group forum, to discuss issues of mutual interest. The key aims of the forum are:

to enable PCQ and major port stakeholders to better understand community perspective; and
to enhance community understanding of the needs of the working port.

An economic impact study commissioned by PCQ in 2002 found that the Port of Hay Point accounted for 764 full-time equivalent jobs, and that a further 1,188 flow-on jobs were generated by port-related activities. In total, these 1,952 jobs earned an estimated $85 million in household income during the 2001/2002 financial year.

ENVIRONMENT

The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area covers the waters to low water mark along the coastline in the Hay Point region, including most waters within the Port of Hay Point. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park extends over half the waters within the port limits.

Seagrass is not generally located within the port limits. Sand beaches in the port region provide roosting and loafing areas for various shorebirds and waders, and are used for turtle nesting. The predominant turtle species nesting on local beaches is the Flatback turtle (Natator depressus), which nests from October to February. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) have also been recorded occasionally nesting on local beaches from November to April.

The area now occupied by the port's two coal terminals was previously part of a cattle property. This area was extensively cleared of native vegetation between 1960 and 1972 due to cattle grazing activities. Only a few small remnants of the original vegetation now remain, comprising riparian vegetation, mixed eucalypt woodland, and gully vegetation. These communities are scattered throughout the port region. PCQ has been revegetating areas of its environmental buffer lands surrounding the coal terminals. Around 120,000 native trees have been planted by PCQ on its buffer lands in the port in recent years, to complement the remnant vegetation, and to expand the habitat available to fauna.

Inland of the tug harbour and bounded by the rail line and the road to Hay Point Services, there is an area of around 22 ha of mangrove vegetation on PCQ land, comprising at least 14 species of mangroves identified in previous surveys.

PCQ has undertaken the following environmental initiatives at the Port of Hay Point:

marine resource mapping;
noise and dust monitoring;
development of a revegetation masterplan and planting of 120,000 trees on port land;
regular surveys of local beaches for coal;
a cultural heritage survey of port land;
selection of environmental controls for Stage 3,4,5,6 and 7 expansions of DBCT;
water quality monitoring;
benthic monitoring of dredge spoil ground;
ground water monitoring;
development of a "Whole of Port" Environmental Management Strategy;
survey of turtles and support of the Mackay Turtle Watch; and
development of oil spill response and emergency response plans for the port.