Before a compulsory arbitration battle over land access for drilling begins, neighbours to Moolarben Coal and The Drip have shown their hand by making an offer to NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell.
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Seven days ago Colin and Julia Imrie penned a letter to the premier offering 10 hectares of their freehold land (Lot 51) as an addition to the Goulburn River National Park. The move would place The Drip block (Lot 45) next to the existing National Park.
The offer stands for 12 months and comes with one condition - Moolarben Coal must convert a larger portion of their land to National Park.
In December Moolarben Coal announced it would look to classify 53 hectares surrounding The Drip as a State Conservation Area and plans to return more than 700 hectares as either national park or conservation area. In addition Moolarben Coal has proposed to undertake work to improve access for the general public to The Drip and to enhance the tourism and educational potential of the site.
Although Moolarben Coal maintains it will not mine or tunnel within 500 metres of The Drip, and has been ordered not to do so by an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel in 2007, it is also the protection of nearby land that has the Imries and other residents worried. The Imries said a State Conservation Area is a tenure that does not exclude mining.
“Less than one hectare of land is proposed for protection as National Park - a thin unconnected strip covering only the rock face of The Drip,” Mrs Imrie said in a statement on Monday.
“We are offering our land, Lot 51, as National Park on the condition that the area currently proposed by Moolarben Coal as State Conservation Area and including all of the Drip Lot 45 is transferred into National Park as well.
“This is the only way to ensure long term protection and future public access to this special place. What is being offered by Moolarben Coal, though a step in the right direction is ill-defined with no guarantees.”
Moolarben Coal is planning an exploration drilling program directly to the north of The Drip and on the Imries’ property “Gleniston”.
The Imries have stated: “There is limited knowledge about the ground water systems feeding The Drip and base flow to the Goulburn River. This mining activity puts them at risk.”
