Thursday, 29 Mar | ||
4:00 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
Armidale Action on Coal Seam Gas has raised alarm bells after discovering that an application has been submitted for a Petroleum Special Prospecting Application over the entire Northern Tablelands.The group has now moved to organise a number of events to rapidly inform the local community about the risks of coal seam gas.
The news comes on the very day that the NSW Upper House is set to debate a bill for a moratorium on coal seam gas mining across NSW.
“We were alarmed to discover this week that an application for coal seam gas ‘prospecting’ has been submitted across a vast area including the New England Tablelands and towns such as Armidale and Walcha” said Carmel Flint, spokesperson for Armidale Action on Coal Seam Gas and a regional co-ordinator with Lock The Gate Alliance.
“We will be gathering outside the government information session on the draft Land Use Plan (to be held at the Armidale Library from 4pm-7pm on the 29th March) to protest against this flawed proposal and to encourage people to make submissions opposing it.
“This application may be the beginning of a process which leads to exploration and mining of coal seam gas across our region, and in light of that we are encouraging all political parties to support the coal seam gas moratorium in Parliament today.
“We now also feel an even greater urgency about informing local people about the severe risks that coal seam gas mining poses to our water, our food producing land and our natural areas.
“In response to the news about the application, we are organising a number of events for the local community to get informed, including a Coal Seam Gas Forum at 7.00pm, 2nd May at the Armidale Town Hall (to be confirmed) and a tour of the Pilliga coal seam gas exploration field from the 13th-15th April.
“The Forum on the 2nd May will include a number of expert speakers including Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith who will talk about the health impacts of coal seam gas mining and geologist John Polglase who will talk about the risks to water resources.
“Our concerns are heightened by the serious failings of the draft Strategic Regional Land Use Plan released by the NSW Government last week, which will not protect one square inch of our region from coal seam gas mining.