A new campaign is being launched today to protect farmland and water resources from the impacts of new mining proposed in NSW, the scale of which rivals that of the controversial Adani coal mine in Central Queensland.
The campaign, dubbed “Time2Choose” aims to get protection for farmland, water resources and healthy communities from destructive mining projects.
Lock the Gate Alliance has crunched the numbers on the scale of expanded coal mining proposed for New South Wales and found that it will be larger than Adani’s mine in the amount of coal produced, land occupied and peak water demand.
Spokesperson Georgina Woods said, “The Adani coal mine has rightly been the biggest issue in the Queensland election and it’s shocking to think that New South Wales is going down the same path with a coal expansion larger in scale than Adani’s mine would be.
“New South Wales is also considering a controversial coal seam gasfield near Narrabri that would dewater aquifers beneath a crucial recharge zone of the Great Artesian Basin.
Bev Smiles’ community of Wollar is currently challenging one of the contentious NSW coal projects in court and said, “New South Wales faces a choice – do we want our valuable farming land to be sacrificed to more coal mines? Do we want precious groundwater to flow into saline pits at the expense of local communities and the environment?
“There is a better way. We can have prosperity and opportunity without putting the land and water that sustain us in jeopardy.
Georgina Woods said, “People from across NSW are launching this campaign today because they’re ready to work together for this issue right up to and beyond the next NSW election. We will make sure decision makers hear why we need to choose food security, clean air and water and renewable energy.”
The briefing outlining the scale of ten new coal mining projects in New South Wales is available for download here.