Lock the Gate – Tweed (LTGT) has called on the NSW Land Council to withdraw its application for a Petroleum Special Prospecting Authority in the Tweed-Byron region.
The area takes in parts of Uki and Mullumbimby, as well as all of Main Arm, Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads, Kingscliff and Pottsville.
The application for a Petroleum Special Prospecting Authority (PAPA) PP55 was advertised in some north coast media last week.
LTGT spokesperson Michael McNamara said the application flew in the face of the wishes of local people, including local Indigenous people.
‘Indigenous people were at the head of the Rock the Gate march through Murwillumbah [last month] alongside other community members opposed to CSG operations,’ he said in a media release last night.
‘Elders and other Aboriginal community members from various northern rivers communities have publicly stated their opposition to CSG operations.
‘Community surveys along roads in Tweed Shire show that 97 per cent of respondents are opposed to CSG operations in the Tweed.’
Lock the Gate – Tweed is hosting a community meeting to inform communities and encourage people to make their views known to the NSW Department of Resources.
‘We will be encouraging local community members to actively oppose the imposition of this industry on the northern rivers.’
The meeting will be held at Murwillumbah Civic Centre, Tumbulgum Rd, Murwillumbah at 6pm on Tuesday November 27.
‘I encourage everyone who is opposed to CSG operations in the Tweed to attend our community meeting and to lodge their comment at the Department of Resources website http://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/community-information/comment/titles.
‘Objections must be lodged by 5 December.’
Mr McNamara also encouraged Tweed Shire residents to contact the NSW Aboriginal Land Council to express their opposition to the application and to call for its withdrawal.
A comment may also be submitted at http://www.alc.org.au/contact-us.aspx.
