The Gasfield Free Mountain Districts committee remain unappeased following the announcement of the Baird Government’s cancellation of PEL5, on the back of the cancellation of PEL463, and are calling for the cancellation of the PEL2 license.
Committee co-convenor Mr Simon Perry said the PEL2 license includes, within its area, the Mangrove Dam and catchment and the Mountain District’s unique aquifer. “We commend the government for its recent cancellation of the PEL463 and PEL5 licenses, and call on the government to recognise that protection of the region’s water supplies are more important than AGL’s bottom line,” Mr Perry said. Mr Perry said with the State Election imminent, it is crunch time for all parties to declare clearly their intentions with regards to coal seam gas mining with catchments and aquifers. “The NSW Liberal Party has little time left before Central Coast residents head to the voting booth to take concrete action on this important issue, the cancelling PEL2 and declaring permanent nogo zones for CSG mining in water catchments and aquifers,” Mr Perry said. “PEL2 is currently in a ‘pending renewal’ status and now is the time to permanently rescind it. “PEL2, currently held by AGL, covers an area that stretches from North of Gosford all the way to Mittagong. “This single PEL places the majority of the NSW population’s drinking water supplies at risk and it is completely unacceptable for the government to turn away from the community’s united stance against the CSG industry holding a license to operate in such areas. “For the Baird Government to be taken seriously on coal seam gas, they need to cancel petroleum exploration licenses such as PEL2, rather than simply licenses that the CSG industry itself has already deemed to be of no value due to there being no signifi cant gas fi elds to be found within them. “The Mountain Districts communities have already demonstrated that they recognise coal seam gas mining as being unacceptable within the district, with 98.2% of residents stating their opposition to the industry during a door-to-door survey conducted in 2014. “The Mountain Districts currently supports an agricultural industry that contributes $157 million per annum to the Central Coast and employs many permanent and contract workers,” Mr Perry said. Greens candidate for Gosford Ms Kate da Costa said leaving PEL2 intact suggests the Baird Government intends to focus on the Central Coast as the new production zone. “The community on the Mountain has clearly indicated that they do not want CSG in our farmlands. “The Coast community does not want CSG threatening our water supply. “The Greens continue to stand up for, and work with the community to ban CSG once and for all from our region,” Ms da Costa said.
Media release, 9 Mar 2015
Sim Perry, Gasfield Free
Mountain Districts
Media release, 6 Mar 2015
Kate da Costa, Central
Coast Greens