“The Southern Downs is too productive, too beautiful and too precious to turn into an industrial wasteland surrounding big holes in the ground.”
AGRICULTURE on the Southern Downs remains under threat from gas and coal mining, the new president of the Southern Downs Protection Group said.
Sarah Moles said that the non-renewal of Arrow Energy’s exploration lease over the Scenic Rim and Southern Downs had made some people complacent about the threats local communities face from energy resource developments.
“The threats to the Southern Downs from unconventional gas may be on hold for the moment but that could easily change. And there remain many coal exploration leases over the region which could be just as damaging, if not more so,” Ms Moles said.
She said co-existence of mining and agriculture on the scale the miners want was not possible.
“What many people don’t understand is the sheer intensity of gas wells involved in a mature gasfield,” Ms Moles said.
“It is staggering and shocking.
“There are currently some 4000 CSG wells in Queensland but we could have 40,000 if the industry has its way,” she said.
“Landholders in the vicinity of CSG developments are already seeing serious impacts on their groundwater resources. They are coming faster than predicted and the so-called “make good” agreement process is letting people down.”
Members of the Southern Downs Protection Group watched two new documentaries produced by the Lock the Gate Alliance at the group’s AGM last week.
Ms Moles said Fractured Country: An Unconventional Invasion drew gasps from the audience when aerial images of a fully developed gasfield in the United States appeared.
“The Lock the Gate documentary Undermining Australia: Coal vs Communities details some of that damage as experienced by other communities, including the health impacts that afflict those living near open cut coal mines and along railway lines used to transport coal.
“SDPG will continue to raise awareness about the risks to our landscapes, our rural industries and our way of life,” Ms Moles said.
“The Southern Downs is too productive, too beautiful and too precious to turn into an industrial wasteland surrounding big holes in the ground.”
