University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2012 What makes a green public sphere?: a case study of the Illawarra Escarpment Helen Irene Wilson University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Wilson, Helen Irene, What makes a green public sphere?: a case study of the Illawarra Escarpment, Master of Science - Research thesis, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, 2012. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3570 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact Manager Repository Services: [email protected]. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences What makes a green public sphere? a case study of the Illawarra Escarpment Helen Irene Wilson This thesis is presented as part of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science of the University of Wollongong July 2012 Candidate’s statement I, Helen Irene Wilson, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science, in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Helen Wilson 21 March 2012 i Abstract Debating the limits of cities in geographically challenging environments is characteristic of modern western environmental politics. This thesis investigates a particular case study in the Illawarra region of Australia, where the city of Wollongong’s ‘green backdrop’, the Illawarra Escarpment, was the subject of intense debate in the 1990s and beyond, here termed ‘escarpment politics’. I invoke the concept of the green public sphere as a forum for the formation of public opinion on the basis of a range of citizen input about environmental matters requiring action by the state. However the existing literature treats this as primarily a normative concept, leading to the research question of how to give it an empirical dimension. The thesis outlines two related historical narratives, the planning of urban development in New South Wales and particularly the expansion of Wollongong to West Dapto in the south, and the work of an urban environmental movement trying to ‘save’ the Illawarra Escarpment, either by bringing more of it into public ownership or at least zoning the lands for environmental protection. Both histories involved displacing and disempowering existing landowners, many of who were descendants of former dairy farmers of a rich agricultural region, but also had a history of campaigning against degradation of their own area through coal mining and waste dumping. The landowners argued that they were being unfairly expected to bear the costs of helping to provide a general amenity. The range of citizens’ concerns and perspectives characterised the wider public sphere of escarpment politics and led to unresolved conflicts. My focus however is on the Illawarra Escarpment Community Reference Group, which I am treating as a potential public sphere although it was initiated and managed by state bodies. I investigate the basis of some of the common and conflicting environmental values that emerged, including the forms in which they were debated. These were characterised by antagonism and acrimony, particularly in the Community Reference Group. The thesis concludes by speculating about factors that might have enabled dialogue to have been more productively conducted, suggesting some essential practical requirements of a green public sphere. The concept of the green public sphere is finally assessed in terms of its limitation to speech when the action required is the responsibility of government bodies. Much of the citizen dissatisfaction in this case is attributable to the actions of government bodies in an unstable and possibly dysfunctional larger political context. This particular public sphere forum, even if it was conducted in an exemplary manner, could not have affected the larger context and thus we have to question the capacity of such groups to influence environmental planning and management by the state. In contrast, the most successful examples of solving comparable problems is offered by international accounts of the communal management of common pool resources. ii Acknowledgements This has been a very rewarding project and I have many people to thank. Pat Macquarie, fellow escarpment scholar, got me going, introduced me to the human geographers at UOW and offered friendship and materials. Nick Gill took me on as supervisor. Though I had started out wanting only to document the work of the Illawarra Escarpment Coalition, his proposition that the farmers had got a very raw deal out of the Coalition’s achievements shocked me into a gradual journey towards a more critical perspective on environmental politics. My movement towards such an ‘enlarged way of thinking’ has been in large part due to Nick. I thank him for the many conversations, suggestions for reading, opening doors to other sources of help and the sometimes punctilious process of commenting on drafts. It has been a pleasure to be doing this thesis in the early days of the Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research at the University of Wollongong. Lesley Head and Chris Gibson inspire with their wide ranging research interests, ability to manage multiple projects and generosity to others. AUSCCER put on many valuable seminars and hosted the Institute of Australian Geographers conference in 2011, all of which provided a framework for a stimulating postgraduate and research culture. IAG visitor Nick Blomley steered me to the work of Elinor Ostrom. I also appreciated the research workshops run by the university library and IT Services. Elyse Staines was always ready to provide encouragement and support in using various technical devices. David Clifton provided the original maps and other graphic services. Heidi Brown and Mick Stevens also helped with maps. I thank all the interviewees, who willingly gave their time, lent documents and other materials and invited me onto their properties. Most took great interest in what I was doing and to some it was imperative that my account be a fair and accurate record of events they continued to feel passionate about. Most eagerly read a draft of most of the thesis and provided a range of corrections and reactions, leading to some intense discussions right up to the end. While meeting all their expectations is probably unrealistic, I hope they at least realise my immense debt and gratitude to them. Of the many others who spoke to me about escarpment and planning matters, I particularly thank Dave Martin and Helen Whelan for initial background and materials. The Local Studies section of Wollongong Library have provided an excellent service. I have enjoyed the company and knowledge of other walkers, many in the Illawarra Ramblers, on escarpment explorations. I am particularly grateful to the Illawarra Branch and State Council of the National Parks Association for providing community forums to discuss with me the continuing environmental issues that arise in relation to the Illawarra Escarpment. Illawarra Branch president Graham Burgess led a number of walks and site visits which produced some of the photographs used here. Graham took the panorama in Section 3.1. Thanks also to Paul Hellier for allowing me to use the photo in the same section. Pam Robinson remembered the proverb cited at the beginning of Chapter 5. Others have also generously read and made suggestions on drafts of some or all of the thesis, notably Lesley Head, Denise Russell and Frances Paterson. Denise and Frances have been encouraging and challenging friends throughout. Thank you all. iii Table of contents Candidate’s statement .............................................................................................................. i Abstract .....................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Table of contents ..................................................................................................................... iv List of figures ........................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The study ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Aims ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Structure ................................................................................................................. 4 2 Conceptualising the green public sphere ........................................................................ 6 2.1 Environmental discourses ...................................................................................... 6 2.2 Citizens and the environment .............................................................................. 10 2.3 The green public sphere ....................................................................................... 13 2.4