It’s hard to believe that after all the angry words exchanged over coal seam gas exploration, AGL’s ‘community relations’ effort amounts to so crudely buying the property belonging to anti gas mining campaigner David Clarke, who died earlier this year. Please read the Daily Telegraph story below. If I was living in the Hunter Valley village of Broke I would be as upset as the locals. They have every right.
Our position is this: we are going to need all the gas we can get our hands on, and any other sources of energy, because there is a growing shortage of Australian fuel. But it has to be done in a way that works for most people in the community. (see previous blog)
By way of background, on a number of occasions we have visited a politician on behalf of a mining company. Generally there is some issue of contention. The refrain from politicians is almost always ‘Have you got the community’s support?’. If a politician can’t sight good evidence of serious community engagement, the mining company will most likely be kept at arm’s length.
And with good reason. People expect companies to be participants in the community where they mine. It’s not just about dollars and jobs; it’s about the environment; it’s about adding to the culture of the place in a positive way by supporting sport, schools, etc. Some people call it earning the ‘social licence to operate’.
Likewise with property developers, who can’t just throw up apartment blocks. There is a rigorous approval process that involves strenuous public consultation.
So AGL’s version of this?
David Clarke, former Chairman of Macquarie Bank, was vehemently against coal seam gas mining in the Broke area. He demonstrated against it in Martin Place, one hundred metres from where AGL was holding its AGM; and it made headlines, including being featured on Four Corners. It was one of his last stands before cancer caught up with him earlier this year. David was a hero in the Broke area, and more widely, for this. Now AGL has exchanged contracts on the his property. They are simply taking what they couldn’t earn on merit, or through due process.
And given David Clarke the bird, to boot!
Here’s our prediction. At some stage in the future AGL will rue this kind of behaviour. It’s just plain bad Public Relations, which-ever way you look at it.
(Declaration: Wilkinson Group consulted to the Hunter Valley Protection Alliance before the NSW state election, and has consulted to Macquarie Bank)
Broken by gas mining – villagers declare war after AGL buys exploration site
- Neil Keene
- The Daily Telegraph
- October 07, 2011 12:00AM
Tree changers … Peter Worgan with his daughters Rose, 8, and Emily, 4, and their dog Boof / Pic: Liam Driver Source: The Daily Telegraph
A TINY NSW township has declared war on energy giant AGL after the company bought a vineyard that could become a base for coal seam gas exploration.
Property owners in Broke in the Hunter Valley were upset yesterday after reports the property, once owned by Macquarie Bank co-founder and anti-coal seam gas campaigner David Clarke, had been sold to the very company he was fighting before his death.
The sale paves the way for AGL to explore for coal seam gas in the area.
A spokeswoman said the company understood community concerns and had consultation processes in place to ensure residents were adequately informed.
“We have successfully demonstrated coal seam gas exploration can coexist with other land uses in the area and that it can be done in a safe and sustainable manner,” she said.
But residents vowed to fight plans every step of the way.
Upper Hunter MP George Souris said he was concerned about the environmental impact and the effect of coal seam gas mining on tourism.
He promised to table in parliament an 11,000-signature petition protesting AGL’s move into the area.
Fight to stop mine withers on the vine
Broke Fordwich Wine and Tourism Association vice-president Eden Anthony said the sale of the land to AGL was “disastrous”. “This is a real punch in the solar plexus for all of us,” he said.
Peter and Ruth Worgan, who bought a property a year ago as a tree change from Sydney, said a gas venture would change the look and feel of their tranquil valley.
“The extra pressure on infrastructure and the extra traffic on the roads will ruin the place,” Mr Worgan said.
Sue and David Knox spent three years choosing their property, which borders the Pooles Rock estate that now belongs to AGL.
“We are devastated,” Mrs Knox said. “I think of our property as a little piece of paradise and this is going to stuff Broke completely.”
AGL already has four properties in the Hunter.
