Nearly 10,000 people sign petition objecting to exploration licence application in Denmark

Nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition opposing a pending exploration licence in Denmark after the Shire lodged a formal objection and requested that the objection period be reopened. At a council meeting on April 19, Cr Donald Clarke put forward a motion asking the Shire to formally object to the pending exploration licence submitted by United Funds in May last year, despite the objection period being closed. The application covers an area on the southern side of South Coast Highway between Parker Road in the west, McLeod Road in the east and Scotsdale Road in the north. A group of concerned residents formed an advocacy group called Save Denmark and launched a petition calling on Mines Minister Bill Johnston “to stop the mining company United Funds from exploring our region”. The petition was launched three weeks ago and had attracted more than 9500 signatures as of Wednesday. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety resource tenure executive director Kristian Dawson said the exploration licence could allow a successful applicant to disturb up to 1000 tonnes of ground material. “The holder of an exploration licence may, in accordance with the licence conditions, extract or disturb up to 1000 tonnes of material from the ground which includes overburden,” he said. “The Minister may approve extraction of larger tonnages.” According to Cr Clarke’s report to the council, no landowners were served with notice of the exploration licence and there were no objections received from Denmark residents during the objection period His fellow councillors unanimously voted to lodge a formal notice of an objection to the Mining Warden and request that the objection period be reopened to allow landowners and other community members to lodge submissions. The councillors supported the motion on the grounds that Shire officers understood landowners had not received notice of the application for an exploration licence. However they also said concerns about mining impacts were not valid because a mine was not being proposed. Prominent Denmark farmer and eco-tourism operator Stephen Birkbeck has spoken out against the application, voicing his concerns about the process and the prospect of mining. “I am concerned that a wide exploration licence for the William Bay district was allowed to be processed without myself or any impacted landholders in my district being contacted and allowed the chance to comment,” he said. “The overwhelming view of my community is that mining exploration licences are incompatible with William Bay local and State strategies, built around premium foods, beverages, tourism trails and wilderness.” Mr Dawson said if landowners were not notified of the application it could mean that surface rights were not being considered. “An applicant for an exploration licence is required to serve notice on any owner or occupier of private land for which they are seeking surface rights,” Mr Dawson said. “The applicant must also serve the chief executive officer for the local government authority. “If the owner or occupier of private land has not received formal notice of the application it may be that only sub-surface rights are being considered, that being deeper than 30m below the surface.” If private landowners have not been notified by the applicant, then surface rights will not be granted for that private property as part of the licence, according to a DMIRS spokesperson. If the private land has not been included in the title at the time of it being granted, then the licence holder will not have access to that land. Mr Dawson confirmed that DMIRS had received several late objections to the Denmark exploration licence application. “The warden is able to consider late objections to an application for an exploration licence, however, they must first consider and approve an extension of time application that seeks to extend the objection period,” he said. “Prior to making such a decision the warden generally requests the department to undertake a submission exchange process to ensure natural justice is provided to all parties. “A number of late objections to this application have been received but in order for these objections to be considered by the warden, the objectors need to lodge an extension of time. “The department, on behalf of the warden, will be undertaking a submission exchange prior to the warden making a decision to approve these extensions of time.” DMIRS has requested more information from United Funds before a recommendation can be made to the Minister to approve or refuse the application. If the exploration licence is granted, the mining tenement holder would be required to submit a Programme of Work to DMIRS before any ground disturbance activities that use mechanised equipment, according to a DMIRS spokesperson. “DMIRS will assess the PoW to ensure the proposed activities comply with all conditions of consent and will not have any adverse environmental impact on the area,” they said. “No ground disturbing equipment is permitted to be used unless it is described in an approved PoW, and if approved, exploration activities may also be subject to conditions to protect the environment. “All environmental impacts of any proposed PoW, including impacts to lakes, waterways and catchment areas are thoroughly assessed under the Mining Act.”