WATER MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

7 November 2013

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Di Clark for Blicks River Guardians 
WATER MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

Blicks River Guardians have launched their new website www.blicksriverguardians.org to tell of their love for the Dorrigo Plateau and their pledge to protect it from inappropriate land use. At stake is a clean water supply for communities from Sawtell to Yamba, a clean environment for the flora and fauna of this area and a place for our children and grandchildren to use in a sustainable way. We thank Alan Morden, art director and consultant from Byron Bay, for the donation of his time and expertise in website design.  We also thank local photographers for allowing us to use their beautiful photographs and videos (see Acknowledgements on the website).

The major potential threats to the Blicks River at present are active mineral exploration leases near Tyringham and Dundurrabin operated by Scorpio Resources Pty Ltd, a full subsidiary company of Anchor Resources.  Diamond drilling has recommenced in the area and will consist of up to 8 holes for approximately 2,000m.  Anchor is currently exploring in this area for large intrusion-related gold systems.

In last week’s Don Dorrigo Gazette there was an article on the history of antimony mining at Wild Cattle Creek. This area too is being explored by Anchor Resources. The movement of surface water dropping from the Plateau to lower river systems may contribute to cumulative impacts downstream. Historically the processing of antimony and other minerals has had a negative impact on areas such as Urunga.

Blicks River Guardians are a sub-group of Dorrigo Environment Watch www.dorrigoenvironmentwatch.org.au; together we hope to enable a well-informed public to express the beauty and timelessness of this area and protect it for future generations. We invite visitors to our website to make comments, download petition pages for signatures, suggest ways they can help and to advise us if they want to be added to our mailing list.

Dorrigo Environment Watch recently held an information session on the NSW Government Strategic Regional Land Use Policy to advise landholders of recent developments. “Prime Agricultural Land” on the Dorrigo plateau was vastly underestimated due to restrictive criteria such as the slope of the land. One look at those rolling hills, lush from high summer rainfall grown on the famous Dorrigo soil, would tell anyone that their zoning criteria are inadequate.  If these maps are used for mining exclusion areas then they are not good enough.

Visit our websites and join in celebrating this beautiful area – water is more precious than gold (or antimony!).