Monday 28 November 2005
NT News
by Eric Tlozek

FAMILIES are threatening to leave Alice Springs because the Federal Government is planning to build a nuclear waste storage facility near the Red Centre town.

Alice Springs mayor Fran Kilgariff said she had been contacted by three families who were leaving because of the proposed facility.

The Federal Government is considering three NT sites to store nuclear waste, two are near Alice Springs and one near Katherine.

One site, Mount Everard, is 30km from the town.

Ms Kilgariff said the families believed Alice Springs would suffer from being the home of Australia's nuclear waste.

``Three families rang me and said if this is going to happen, they are going to leave town,'' she said.

``They don't want to be associated with nuclear waste.''

Alice Springs Town Council chief executive Rex Mooney and alderman Melanie Van Haaren addressed the Senate inquiry into the siting of the storage facility this week.

The pair told the inquiry residents were shocked they had not been consulted and had no power to stop the unit being built.

Mr Mooney relayed the mayor's concerns about local authorities not being informed of the decision.

``The first I heard of the dump was when the ABC rang me up to ask what I thought about it,'' Ms Kilgariff said. ``The wholelack of communication from the Commonwealth about the choice of site was unbelievable.''

The council has joined traditional landowners and environment groups in opposing the unit.

Ms Kilgariff said the council had few options left once the Bill was passed.

``There's not much more we can do now except stand in front of the bulldozers,'' she said.