Last oyster farmer from Georges River down to Botany Bay forced out

Bob Hill, whose business Endeavour Oysters operates from the Georges River down to Botany Bay, says he will have to abandon all the oysters he has growing and leave about one million recently-delivered baby oysters to die.

"This is a disgraceful example of government bureaucracy, and a commonsense solution needs to be worked out quickly," he said.

Transport for NSW, whose maritime division has responsibility for the site, says the old sheds over the water are unsafe, "particularly in high wind events".

TfNSW closed the site, near the Sharks development, in 2017 to remediate contaminated soil.

One of the last two oyster farmers had to close his business, but Mr Hill battled on, even though he was initially restricted to water access.

With the land fully remediated and covered by bitumen, Mr Hill has returned to using the sheds while TfNSW and the Department of Primary Industries work on plans to demolish the structures and build new aquaculture facilities for up to eight tenants.

Mr Hill said the termination notice, dated March 2, came while talks with TfNSW representatives were still going on about the safety issue.

"TfNSW has put the onus of completing repairs to overwater sheds solely on us even though it has been made very clear they will be demolished," he said.

"Why would anyone invest time and money on buildings that are going to be demolished?

"We have been clear about what is required for us to be able to continue to operate on site and can maintain a minimal site presence to work in with any construction occurring.

"We have even offered to minimise our operations to animal husbandry only.

"We assumed that TfNSW was genuine in their consultation with us, however we had no response to our request to move to an area on the land base that they first suggested to us and we had agreed upon..

"They are are aware that we require both a land and water based lease to continue to operate."

"They knew I was ordering the million baby oysters, which cost us $27,000."

Bob Hill and some of the old sheds, which are considered unsafe. Picture by Chris Lane

Mr Hill said they were led to believe they would be able to operate on the hard site, and had continuously been asked to provide details of what was needed to continue to operate.

"The same person from TfNSW who sent us the termination notice, verbally told us approximately five weeks ago they would be able to find a solution," he said.

A TfNSW spokesman said Endeavour Oysters operated under a month-to-month licence and, under the terms, was responsible for the upkeep of the buildings to ensure they are safe for occupation.

"TfNSW has found the structures on site to be in very poor condition and has significant concerns regarding their safety, particularly in high wind events," he said.

"An independent engineering assessment together with workplace health and safety risk assessments have concluded the site is unsafe for occupation."

The spokesman said TfNSW and the Department of Primary Industries wanted to continue to support the aquaculture industry at the site.

A "reimagined" aquaculture precinct could tell the history of the site, increase production and employment and support ongoing ecological and environmental research, he said.

"TfNSW will follow established guidelines in assessing future tenure opportunities for the site, which will include an open market expression of interest process."