Moved by Councillor Phelps, seconded by
Councillor Miller –
It is resolved that Council submit the
following motion for consideration at the next Local Government NSW Annual
Conference:
It
is resolved that:
(A)
Local Government NSW note:
(i)
the NSW Government has recently granted
planning approvals for an expansion of coal mining operations under Woronora
reservoir, one of Sydney’s key drinking water catchments;
(ii)
the new expansion will see new coal faces
established under the Woronora dam, which supplies drinking water to Sydney. Up
to three new underground coal faces will be established at the mine, with two
of them running below the dam’s water storage;
(iii)
this decision to allow coal mining under the
Woronora reservoir poses a direct threat to the drinking water of hundreds of
thousands of Sydneysiders;
(iv)
mining activities under the reservoir could
compromise the integrity of the water storages, potentially leading to
leakages, and flow on environmental damage to the surrounding water table and
the quality of drinking water supplies; and
(v)
the full impacts of the underground mining
operations will not be known for several decades, and changes in the geological
structures below the dam could continue well after the final coal has been
extracted from the site; and
(B)
Local Government NSW:
(i)
oppose the approval of long-wall coal mines
under Sydney's drinking catchments;
(ii)
lobby the NSW Government against the issue of
long-wall mining approvals under Woronora reservoir, and other mines which have
the potential to risk contaminating Sydney's drinking water supply; and
(iii)
oppose the approval of any mines which have
the potential to contaminate drinking water supply of any community in New
South Wales.
The motion was carried on the following show
of hands:
Ayes (8) The
Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Kok, Miller, Scully, Scott, Thalis, Phelps
and Chung
Noes (1) Councillor
Forster
Motion carried.
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