Mining v. agriculture battle arrives in Bylong Valley
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:11 am
Mining v. agriculture battle arrives in Bylong Valley
The battle for the protection of farming land from mining activity has opened a new front today, with the announcement of the formation of the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance.
The new group, established at a community meeting at Bylong over the weekend, has appointed an interim executive and committee, pending full registration with the Office of Fair Trading, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Around 40 people attended the meeting, which was addressed by local eco-tourism operator Julia Imrie and Cathy Pattullo, a former resident of the Cumbo Valley, which was badly affected by noise from the nearby Wilpinjong mine.
Interim President, local Jodie Nancarrow, said that the name “pretty much says it all.
It’s about protecting the Bylong Valley - and everything that’s so special and unique about it. And the biggest threat at the moment is mining.” Earlier this year, Anglo American Coal announced the sale of its proposed Bylong mine to Kepco of Korea
for $403M.
The Bylong Valley – with its celebrated annual charity ‘Mouse Races’ - has become even better known in recent years with the sealing of the Bylong Valley Way, and is now a significant tourist gateway from the Upper Hunter to the Central West.
Also under threat from the proposed mining activity is ‘Tarwyn Park’, home of Peter Andrews’ revolutionary method of landscape restoration and water management, ‘Natural Sequence Farming’, and familiar to many through the ABC’s ‘Australian Story’.
The battle for the protection of farming land from mining activity has opened a new front today, with the announcement of the formation of the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance.
The new group, established at a community meeting at Bylong over the weekend, has appointed an interim executive and committee, pending full registration with the Office of Fair Trading, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Around 40 people attended the meeting, which was addressed by local eco-tourism operator Julia Imrie and Cathy Pattullo, a former resident of the Cumbo Valley, which was badly affected by noise from the nearby Wilpinjong mine.
Interim President, local Jodie Nancarrow, said that the name “pretty much says it all.
It’s about protecting the Bylong Valley - and everything that’s so special and unique about it. And the biggest threat at the moment is mining.” Earlier this year, Anglo American Coal announced the sale of its proposed Bylong mine to Kepco of Korea
for $403M.
The Bylong Valley – with its celebrated annual charity ‘Mouse Races’ - has become even better known in recent years with the sealing of the Bylong Valley Way, and is now a significant tourist gateway from the Upper Hunter to the Central West.
Also under threat from the proposed mining activity is ‘Tarwyn Park’, home of Peter Andrews’ revolutionary method of landscape restoration and water management, ‘Natural Sequence Farming’, and familiar to many through the ABC’s ‘Australian Story’.