If you have ever visited Gloucester, you will know it as a delightful farming community in the foothills of the Barrington Tops world heritage area. It is an area best known for rich dairy herds, fine produce, and the dramatic Gloucester Tops range that rises abruptly from the valley floor. But now it is increasingly known as a coal mine – and a gas field.
The residents of this idyllic valley are facing the same questions facing so many other communities that are on the frontline of the fossil fuel boom – “How can we stop our most beautiful and productive farmlands becoming an industrial wasteland at the hands of the mining industry?”
The answer depends on whether you want to play by the rules or not. Playing by the rules, when it comes to trying to stop a coal mine or a coal seam gas development, means losing. The rules exist to encourage mining – not to stop it. Some rural communities know this so well that they don’t even bother fighting. But an increasing number are saying to hell with the rules – with surprising results.
Crikey.com.au
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