Restrictions that apply to exploration of Ganyan Drive, Speewah Road, Forest Close and Cadagi Close

1 Wet Tropics Area

The WTQ map for Kuranda (available on-line here) shows that the Wet Tropics area includes part of FTY1569, including the entire portion that borders properties on Ganyan Drive and Forest Close across the Ganyan Creek.

2. Code of Environmental Compliance for Exploration and Mineral Development Projects

This document, published by the Envoronmental Protection Agency and the Department of Mines and Energy is available online here.

Section 3.1 (GENERAL CONDITIONS) contains the following:

Condition 13

The holder of the environmental authority must not carry out activities in a category A or B Environmentally Sensitive Area. Activities involving machinery must not be carried out within 1km of a category A environmentally sensitive area or within 500m of category B environmentally sensitive area. Prior to carrying out activities in a category C environmentally sensitive area, consult with the relevant administering authority and the Environmental Protection Agency. If it is determined through the consultation that additional conditions are necessary, the holder must comply with those conditions.

Note 20 – Refer to Appendix A - Environmentally sensitive Areas.

Of particular interest is the following: "Activities involving machinery must not be carried out within 1km of a category A environmentally sensitive area"

The definition of Category A contains the following:

APPENDIX A - ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS

Category A - Environmentally Sensitive Areas

LAND AREA CLASSIFICATION: Wet Tropics
ADMINISTERING LEGISLATION: Wet Tropics World Heritage Protection and Management Act 1993
ADMINISTRATING AUTHORITY: Wet Tropics Management Authority

3. Application of Condition 13 to affected properties

Any property that lies within 1 km of the portion of FTY1569 that is classified as a Category A Environmentally Sensitive Area will come under condition 13.

Exploration may take place, but no machinery may be used. It might be assumed that this implies that any digging or tree felling must be done with hand-tools; legal opinion on this matter is invited.

4. Properties within 1 km of a Category A Environmentally Sensitive Area

Ganyan Drive
The affected areas of all properties fall entirely within 1 km of the World Heritage Area.

Forest Close
The affected areas of all properties fall entirely within 1 km of the World Heritage Area.

Cadagi Close
The affected areas of all properties fall entirely within 1 km of the World Heritage Area.

Speewah Road
The northeastern corner of 492 Speewah Road lies outside the 1 km boundary. The rest of the block lies within 1 km of the World Heritage Area.
A small strip of 460 Speewah Road lies outside the 1 km limit. All of the region of 460 Speewah Road that adjoins properties on Ganyan Drive lies within the 1 km limit.

Resources

The following resources provide useful background information.

• Map of Wet Tropics Authority managed area
• Code of Environmental Compliance for Exploration and Mineral Development Projects
• Mineral Resources Act 1989
• Mineral Resources Regulation 2003
• Mineral exploration - Exploration laws explained
• EPA Eco-Access - Mining

What Ganyan Drive looks like now

Here is a Google Map of the area as it is now. As you can see, it's mostly forest, with a few small cleared areas for houses and roads.


View Larger Map

Map of affected area

Here's an extract from the Queensland Govt map of exploration permit EPM 15664. The area includes the southern half of Ganyan Drive, and appears also to include a chunk of the World Heritage rainforest on the south side of the Ganyan Creek.

You can find more details at http://www.dme.qld.gov.au/mines/tenure_maps.cfm. Use the magnifying glass tool to navigate to the tablelands, and switch on the layer for Exploration and Mining Tenure/Current Expl. Permits (Mineral)

Mining Exploration on Ganyan Drive

Ganyan Drive
Speewah QLD 4881

30th October 2008

Dear Neighbour,

MINING EXPLORATION ON GANYAN DRIVE

Yesterday, I received a registered letter from a mining company, Auzex Resources Limited, informing me of their intention to enter my property within the next seven days in order to carry out mineral exploration. A permit has been granted by the Queensland Government no EPM 15664, which covers a huge portion of the local area including half of Ganyan Drive, as depicted in the grey area of the map attached.

I have taken legal advice on the matter and have been informed that I am unable to halt the exploration which will be ongoing between 3rd November 2008 and 6th January 2009.

According to their website http://www.auzex.com the key minerals Auzex look for are molybdenum, gold, bismuth, silver, tin and tungsten.

Words cannot express the concern I feel about this issue, not just the impact on me and my family, but for all of us. Off the top of my head the following will be impacted:

Health
Heavy vehicles
Noise
Pollution – both land and water as we border the Ganyan River
Property values
Road expansion
Traffic

I am sure you can think of many more.

Beyond the local issues though, is the wider issue that a mining permit can be granted in a residential area, and surely this alone requires review and a change in legislation.

If you would like to know more information or would like to offer any assistance in protecting our community from this bizarre new threat, please do not hesitate to contact me, or my wife, as above. I have put a blog together a blog at http://minespeewah.blogspot.com and I will attempt to keep interested parties informed of developments via this mechanism.

Yours faithfully
etc