As part of community town planning, an industrial estate was proposed for development on the outskirts of a growing township which was a two-hour commute from the Melbourne CBD. The estate required water and sewerage facilities to be provided. At this stage, the land featured native vegetation including a few big old gum trees, an old cave with Indigenous Australian artefacts, an old building near the cave and a local waterhole frequented by native wildlife.

As part of the estate development, the following factors were considered by the Council Water Board:

1. financial NPV

2. environmental impacts:
• land clearing
• discharges to the environment (liquid waste into sewerage drains; carbon dioxide emissions to air; noise pollution)

• water requirements

3. social impacts:

• Indigenous heritage

• European heritage

• community acceptance

The following two developments were submitted to the Council’s Water Board.

Required

(a) Which project should be accepted?

(b) Discuss the ramifications of each option.

Transcribed Image Text:

Project 1 Project 2 Financial NPV -$8 000 000 Financial NPV -$4 000 000 Environmental impacts Environmental impacts Land clearing: 5 hectares (biodiversity impacted; loss of animal and plant species) Discharges: Additional facility cost to provide greywater use to water sports oval Land clearing: 7 hectares (biodiversity impacted; loss of animal and plant species) Discharges: Treated water discharged directly to stream Water requirements: Pumping station (noise buffer included in NPV costs); additional electricity for pumping Water requirements: Gravity fed water, as using land where Indigenous cave artefacts are (no noise buffer required) Project 1 Project 2 Social impacts Social impacts Indigenous heritage: Cave site avoided in proposal European heritage: NIA Indigenous heritage: Cave site used in proposal European heritage: Old building near cave site will be demolished Community acceptance: Consultations suggest this option is acceptable Community acceptance: Several complaints have been received