November 18, 2021
A community action group which campaigned vigorously against a proposed coal mine near Kingaroy is winding up.
At its recent annual general meeting, members of the Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group (KCCG) agreed the purpose of the group, as described in its Constitution, no longer existed so there was no need for it to continue.
The KCCG was born out of a struggle more than a decade ago to stop an underground coal gasification (UCG) project near Coolabunia by Cougar Energy.
It then tackled a proposal by Cougar (renamed as Moreton Resources) to develop an open cut coal mine on a lease between Goodger and Taabinga Village.
KCCG president Gary Tessmann told the AGM the KCCG had been formed to “support landholders in the Kingaroy area in their management of land-use conflicts”.
Local landholder John Dalton told the meeting that Moreton Resources could not be revitalised and the State Government had withdrawn its Mineral Development Lease.
He said there appeared to be no further issues to address: bauxite exploration and other coal exploration in different parts of the area also seem to have “dissolved”.
The group voted to disburse its remaining funds between the Environmental Defenders’ Office and Lock The Gate as both these organisations had given “freely of their time and their invaluable knowledge regarding the issues that KCCG Inc encountered regarding the coal mining development and Moreton Resources”.
- Related article: Moreton’s Coal Licence ‘Non-Current’
[UPDATED]
Great work done by all the people involved in preventing damage/destruction to our environment. We never want to see our area turn into another “Hunter Valley”.
Many thanks.