Bowdens Silver

Project will provide long term employment while providing materials necessary to support green energy.
Removal of pipeline will help minimise long term impact of project post mine life.

i believe the Bowdens silver project will help boost the small community of Lue through providing jobs for the locals living in and around Lue and surrounding towns, as well as provide support for other businesses and facilities around the region.

Support

Dear Planning NSW and Ms Roseanne Hawkeswood,

As a long-time visitor to the area, it was the beauty and tranquillity of the region that engendered my move from the city 25 years ago. For many years after making the region my home, I enjoyed the drive to work along the Lue Road every day.
The Mudgee area relies heavily on the tourist industry and I have often directed friends to take the back roads via Rylstone and Lue, to enjoy the spectacularly beautiful Lawson Creek valley. As an artist it has also been a place of great inspiration for me and others.
But apart from the obvious scenic value of the Lue area, it is the ripping into the landscape which poses serious threats to health and wellbeing of locals and very possibly for those of us further downstream from the proposed mine.
There are real dangers of toxic waste for residents – the very real potential leakages into waterways from unsafe tailing dams; exposure to high levels of lead which is particularly dangerous for children by lowering IQ etc.
One of the most worrying aspects of this proposed mine is the amount of water it proposes to use. With climate change already providing us with more prolonged and severe droughts, a safe supply of clean water is vital to all of us – particularly the farmers struggling to keep their stock watered and fed. Local creeks have been dry or barely damp in recent times and any industry that plans to grab unsustainable amounts of water which would affect the whole valley and all places downstream is simply not putting the needs of region first. Once land or water is contaminated, there is no going back – it cannot be undone. We need all the water we can draw on here to sustain us and our communities, not least to feed ourselves!
It is my belief that the mine will also virtually destroy the village of Lue as a community that it is today. We are losing too many of these villages across the country already – just look at the effects of mining had at the small community at Wollar! Where can these people move to when their property values are slashed and they are unable to sell? Would the mine owners want to live so close to this toxic mine site? I think not.
I am also very concerned about the proposed increased heavy truck traffic along Mudgee town streets, carrying toxic chemicals.
In summary, I urge you to not allow this mine to become a reality – the environment, people and communities will be the losers if the mine is given the go ahead – are these not worth more in the long run than short term profits? Think ahead 30 years when the mine is exhausted, the land and water polluted, and a community dispersed and all that is left is a jarring great gaping hole in the ground.

Sincerely
A du Terreau

Dear Ms Hawkeswood

I currently live in Sydney but I grew up in the Mudgee district and members of my family continue to farm there. I am very concerned about the potential impact of the proposed Bowden Silver mine on the health, lives and livelihoods of the people of the Mudgee community. This mining proposal, under various guises, has been hanging over the head of the local community like the sword of Damocles for years now. It is time it was rejected once and for all

You would be well aware of the reasons why the community rejects this mine. There are well-founded fears about potentially dangerous lead, sulphuric acid and cyanide pollution entering groundwater and above-ground waterways. There is the probability the water table will drop as it has dropped in mining areas such as Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The mine would also be located just two kilometres from the village of Lue. How are children at Lue school to be guaranteed protection from lead poisoning from dust and other sources? No doubt proponents of this mine have all sorts of schemes to contain toxic waste produced from mining. But protective measures, including tailings dams, as you would well know have failed in the past

Agriculture and community should always prevail in any contest with miners

I hope the Bowden Silver Project will be soundly rejected

Yours sincerely
Tim Barton