Southern Highlands residents speak out against coal seam gas mining
Southern Highlands resident Jennifer Pyle has added her voice to those of the growing numbers of residents who sense the “steamrollering of their rights as citizens and residents when it comes to coal seam gas exploration.”
“My husband and I had yearned to retire to the Southern Highlands for many years so after moving to the area a couple of years ago, we have now purchased a block of land in Exeter, just to complete our dream of building and living there in our retirement,” she told the Parliamentary inquiry.
“That now will end if Hume Coal is allowed to continue its current agenda.
“Our land is now unsellable, and worth less already and building would be pointless, with the mining ramifications of subsidence etc. if the government does not halt this potential disaster,” Pyle says.
“The damage and pollution of ground water, aquifers, rivers and dams, and the disposal of large volumes of contaminated water from coal seam gas would be catastrophic.
“Not to mention the water catchment area for Sydney that would be compromised.
“The environmental risks to our farmland, bushland and communities would be destructive. We must preserve our agricultural land.
“One huge concern is our inability to deny land access to a miner under the current NSW law is a violation of our democratic rights.
“The rights of mining companies, overseas or local have become a mountain that will crush all that we hold dear as Australians and all will be irrevocably lost if you, on this committee and the NSW government, fail to act in these urgent matters regarding mining.”