scone.com.auLabor Backs Horses
YESTERDAY the leader of the NSW Labor Party Luke Foley voiced his concerns for the employees of the equine industry in the Upper Hunter during a speech in Dubbo.
He said the ongoing land tensions between coal mining and the equine industry had resulted in stress for 4,800 employees of 470 horse studs throughout the area and was concerned the horse studs may be forced to leave the area unless they were given certainty by the Baird government.
Labor is calling for buffer zones to be imposed to protect agricultural industries from mining and said the Drayton South mine expansion which was before the Planning Assessment Commission for the fourth time was a prime example of failing system.
Rick Fairhurst and Darren Pisters representing Anglo American at the PAC.
However, at the recent Planning Assessment Commission public hearings for Drayton South held in Muswellbrook, Rick Fairhurst, NSW Projects Director for Anglo American took issue with how interest groups and some media were painting the number of times the project had been before the PAC.
He clarified the Company had only appealed the decision of the first PAC once, which they were entitled to do in the process set down by the government and reminded the audience the usual PAC process had three public hearings before a final decision was made in which all parties participated.
Mr Fairhurst said he believed interest groups and some media were deliberately trying to misrepresent the process to the public.
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