Tides are turning slowly but surely. Richmond Valley the...

Tides are turning slowly but surely. Richmond Valley the next.

Grassroots backlash in Gloucester as new protest group protests ... anti-mining protesters

GEOFF CHAMBERS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH APRIL 22, 2014 12:00AM

FARMERS, former politicians and business owners in Gloucester have formed a lobby group to fight against a growing wave of anti-mining protesters in the region.

Advance Gloucester president Bill Williams, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, has lived on the Avon River his whole life — between the Stratford Coal coal mine and AGL’s CSG Tiedmans property.

Mr Williams said the group wasn’t pro-mining but had grown tired of “misinformation” being put out by the protesters. “There's been a fair bit of conflict in the area about some of the misinformation — it has divided the region,” Mr Williams said.

AGL has set up wells within 2km of the Williams’ 157ha farm. Mr Williams said fracking was not new to the area. “Advance Gloucester is not pro-mining. If they do something they shouldn’t we'll be the first to pull them up,” he said.

“But the reality is … if the Stratford Coal mine and gas went out of the area there would be a hell of a lot unemployment and indirect unemployment through businesses who rely on it.”

The group’s spokesman, farmer Rod Williams — Bill’s cousin — said the group was diverse, including two former mayors, ex-councillors, tourist operators and small business owners. “We're here to play a straight bat. These companies know we’ll jump up and down if they do the wrong thing. So far they’ve been pretty good to deal with,” Mr Williams said.

“The image of Gloucester is important and that’s why we’ve formed to get the right message out there.” Mr Williams said much of the anti-mining rhetoric was coming from people who had come to the Gloucester region from other places.

Several groups including Save Gloucester and the Barrington-Gloucester-Stroud Preservation Alliance have set up social media sites to push their message. On its Facebook page, Save Gloucester describes itself as a “broad-based ­community organisation dedicated to preserving and protecting beautiful Gloucester NSW and its environs from the deprivations of further mining”.

The developers of The Rock Hill coal mine last week revealed that, of the 1700 submissions lodged on their application, 1155 submissions opposing the proposal comprised standard form letters with the bulk originating from outside the region.

http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/grassroots-backlash-in-gloucester-as-new-protest-group-protests-antimining-protesters/story-fni0cx12-1226891525808