Comment: Destruction of our scenic routes

Hello again

There are certain requirements regarding visual impact of mines but in this case we are talking about a mine that supplies coal to power the south west of WA (my computer right now actually, given that the sun has gone down and my solar panels are not on the go:).

The approval for the mine would have gone through a process that would have included an assessment of the visual impact, but there is a finite supply of coal (and no viable alternative at moment). Sterilising a portion of the resource because the odd tourist may get upset about seeing a hole in the ground and a pile of clayey sand was not, in this instance, a strong enough case to make them leave the coal buried where it is, shut down shop and go home.

It is unfortunate that the road goes right through the middle of it all but I suspect the only other realistic option would have been to re-route the road which, while providing a blind fold to what is happening, would have resulted in the clearing of even more bush.

A lot of towns have similar “destruction” quiet visible as you drive through – e.g. Broken Hill, Iron Knob, Coober Pedy, Mt Isa, Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie, Kambalda, Capel, Norseman, Newman, Tom Price, Cue, Leonora, Leinster, Laverton…list would be huge. Not saying it’s all good ..it’s just a fact of life.

Cheers
Greg