did anyone attend the palerang council meeting, page-5

I was in attendance at this Council meeting.

There were only 6 of the 9 councillors present at the meeting. The 3 absent councillors all reside in the western side of Palerang and tend not to be too interested in things that affect the eastern side of Palerang. (coincidence I wonder??....)

The meeting was moved to the National Theatre in Braidwood so that there would be sufficient seating for the general public.

Two councillors stated that if it was their decision there would be no mine at all. These two councillors are very green and it was of no surprise to me that they made their position quite clear.

The Mayor, on the other hand, stated that he can't wait for the operations to commence saying that he believed it would be a great boost for the local economy.

The restrictions imposed by Council for the hours of operations was due to some of the residents of Majors Creek raising concerns regarding the expected noise coming from the mine site and did not want operations going 24/7. There were concerns raised also from some of the residents of Braidwood regarding the expected significant increase in heavy vehicle movements and the impact that will have on the town as these vehicles move through it.

I might add that the restriction placed by Council is to apply for the first 12 months of operations with a review to be conducted at the end of that period.

It needs to be said too that if the mine is approved Council will benefit from an injection of funds from CRC for the upgrade of the Majors Creek Rd from the mine site entrance back to the intersection of the Araluen Rd so it may more safely carry the expected increase in heavy vehicle traffic. In addition, funds will be provided by CRC for an amenities upgrade at the Braidwood Recreation Ground as part of a community services upgrade.

Neither of these projects could proceed without the contribution from Cortona as Palerang Council is almost broke.

Cortona has already contributed towards other community projects in the area so some people need to be mindful that they can't have their cake and eat it too.

Overall, there seems to be stronger community support for the mine then against. But at the end of the day you will never please everyone.