Muswellbrook Shire mayor Martin Rush.
The coal seam gas industry is unlikely to have a future in Muswellbrook Shire because of poor state land planning, mayor Martin Rush told a touring National Farmers Federation taskforce on coal seam gas yesterday.
Cr Rush also detailed Muswellbrook Shire Council’s draft strategy on land use and policy on coalmine rehabilitation.
The federation’s CSG taskforce also toured a Singleton thoroughbred horse stud, BHP Billiton’s Mt Arthur Coal mine and met with the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association.
“This week’s tour focuses on the multiple land use change issues in the Hunter Valley, including mining urban development and CSG developments, and the impact they have had on local landholders,” NFF vice-president Duncan Fraser said.
According to Cr Rush, land use planning could have allowed the CSG industry in Muswellbrook Shire; instead open-cut coalmines occupy land that could have been better used for gas extraction.
Muswellbrook Chronicle
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