THE Lake Burley Griffin Guardians (LBGG) are “strongly opposed” to the National Capital Authority’s (NCA) decision to introduce seaplanes to Lake Burley Griffin.

Acting convener of LBGG, Richard Morrison has said their has been a failure of the NCA to appropriately cover the range of issues requiring consideration before making a decision concerning seaplane operations on Lake Burley Griffin.

“We do not want to see the lake turned into a runway for a wealthy few whilst detrimentally affecting water birds and other wildlife, and impinging on the amenity of many Canberrans and other lake users who value the tranquility of the lake and its surroundings,” he says.

On May 8, 2021, the NCA released a discussion paper on a proposal to expand the uses of Lake Burley Griffin to include commercial and recreation seaplane flights. This consultation showed only 20 per cent of respondents supported the proposal, and 67 per cent were against it, with others either neutral, mixed or needing more information.

“On the basis of the current inadequate information, supposed to underpin an NCA decision, our strong conclusion, considering the required precautionary principle, is that this proposal should not proceed,” he says.