 |
|
| Home | About | Articles | Advertise | Contact Us |
Tinkler donation: Questions loom
Carmel Flint, a spokeswoman for the NICE, said that political donations made by the chairman of the proponent company, Nathan Tinkler, were not reported to the NSW Planning[1] department. Ms Flint said donations of $50,000 were made to the National Party by Nathan Tinkler. “The proposed Maules Creek Coal Mine is located in a National Party seat,” Ms Flint said. The Planning Department is now conducting an inquiry into the failure to disclose the donations, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Maules Creek Coal Mine is one of three major open-cut mines proposed for the Leard State Forest area, a significant natural area near Mt Kaputar, north of Boggabri. “The Maules Creek Coal Project has had a dream run through the planning assessment processes in NSW,” Ms Flint added. “It has moved through at twice the speed of many other development proposals. “For example, the Boggabri Coal Mine proposal was lodged a year prior to the Maules Creek proposal, but the Maules Creek proposal has moved so quickly through the system that it is now at the same stage as the Boggabri proposal. “The news that there have been unreported donations involved now raises genuine questions about the integrity of the process. “We are calling for more serious measures to investigate the matter – the processing of the development proposal should be stopped immediately and a more far-reaching inquiry conducted by an independent authority. “The Maules Creek Coal Mine, if approved, will clear some 2079 hectares of vegetation, including 544 hectares of the critically endangered Box-Gum woodland. “The mine will have an enormous and irreversible environmental impact on an outstanding natural area that provides habitat for up to 36 threatened species, including the Masked Owl, Koala and Painted Honeyeater. “This mine will also forever change the quiet rural community of Maules Creek into a giant industrial zone with impacts on health, air quality, noise and amenity. “We are calling for the mine to be rejected due to unacceptable social and environmental impacts,” she said. There had been no comment from the Tinkler organisation at the time of going to press. |
The Northern Inland Council for the Environment has questioned what it claims is the “fast-tracking” given through the planning process, to the proposed Maules Creek Coal Mine.