A coalition of community and environmental groups from across the Central West have united to stage a ‘people’s conference’ as an alternative to the privately run ‘Mudgee Mining’ conference at Parklands Resort in March. To be held in Lawson Park in the afternoon of Tuesday, 20th March, the free conference has already confirmed a number of high profile speakers, including author and journalist Paul Cleary, the CEO of the NSW Nature Conservation Council, Pepe Clarke, and Mid-Western Regional Council General Manager, Warwick Bennett. Spokesman for the combined groups, Craig Shaw, from the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance (BVPA), said the event was a chance for people from across the region to hear about a range of issues related to mining and to understand the implications for Mudgee’s future. ‘With the expansion of current mines and multiple new mines in various stages of planning across the region, people should make no mistake: unless we all act together to shape this development ourselves the Mudgee we know and love is a goner.’ Mr Shaw points to the large range of groups involved as a sign of how significant and widespread the issues have become. The other groups represented include the Mid-Western Community Action Network, the Lue Action Group, Merriwa Healthy Environment Group, Rylstone District Environment Society, Running Stream Water Users Association and the Mudgee District Environment Group. ‘There is so much at stake here – from the impact on ratepayers to the health of our tourism and winegrowing industries, from further strain on services and infrastructure to the demise of small villages and all the things that go with them, like local bush fire brigades, schools and churches. ‘Add to that the issues surrounding water, loss of prime agricultural land and the uncertainty facing key tourist drawcards like ‘the Drip’ and you start to see the enormity of it all. ‘It’s this bigger picture that people have to be worried about – which is why we’ve called our event “Mudgee Mining – the wHole Story”.’ Mr Shaw is at pains to emphasise that, while delegates to the private conference will be paying $3294.50 for the two day program, the ‘people’s conference’ will be free. ‘We feel it’s important for everyone to have a chance to hear about the issues involved. I mean, how many people have a lazy three grand to spend on going to a conference like this? ‘And even then, it’s basically about how they can make the most money from tearing down what our communities have spent generations building up. It’s like a private mining millionaire’s party, where the fun comes from figuring out how to do us over.’ As well as the ‘people’s conference’, other events on the day will include a rally and march, starting opposite Parklands at 11am, and a dinner that evening with author and environmental campaigner Sharyn Munro. A guided bus tour of affected areas is also being arranged for Wednesday, 21st March. Further details can be found online at www.mudgeeminingthewholestory.org.au.
