For years, local resident Bill Craig has been desperately searching for information on whether there are any mining leases on his land – and finally last week he was successful in obtaining those details.
However, his good news was short-lived, as he found out that leases had been approved by the State Government on his property as far back as May 12, 2004.
Others were granted in 2009 and 2010.
Mr Craig has owned his Glengallan property, about 17 kilometres from Warwick, for more than 32 years but is now very concerned about the value of his land.
“What I’ve worked for my whole entire life here, I wanted to hand it over to my son who has a disability and I can’t even do that,” he told the Southern Free Times.
“(Holders of) these mining leases can do whatever they like underneath your ground. What chance do you have against the mining companies? Why do we pay such a high price for freehold land when the government owns all the minerals underneath us?” Mr Craig said.
“I bought it as a dairy farm. We weren’t even told there were any minerals there.
“I suppose I’ll be forced to sell it. I’ve lost the value of my property. I’d hope to get a half a million dollars but now I’ll be lucky to get enough money to buy a house in town.”
He said they had just struggled through 10 years of drought to be then hit with this news.
“Farming is the backbone of the whole of this country. It’s a total waste of totally good agricultural land.
“Food and water are definitely at risk. We’ve got to save our own food and water, otherwise who’s going to feed us. We’ll be left starving,” Mr Craig said.
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Story: Rebecca Brown
