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 mining.
“We were alarmed to discover this last week that an application for coal seam gas “prospecting’ has been submitted across a vast area including the New England Tablelands and including 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.
“This application may be the beginning of a process which leads to exploration and mining of coal seam gas across our region.
“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, May 2 at the Town Hall (to be confirmed) and a tour of the Pilliga coal seam gas exploration field from April 13 to 15.
“Our concerns are heightened by the serious failings of the draft Strategic Regional Land Use Plan released by the NSW Government recently, which will not protect one square inch of our region from coal seam gas mining.
“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 March 29) to protest against this flawed proposal and to encourage people to make submissions opposing it.”
