About 3000 people have signed a petition opposing mining near Lake Canbolas.
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The petition was organised by the Concerned Land Owners of the Orange region who are concerned test drilling by the Fortescue Metals Group could lead to prime agricultural land including orchards and vineyards being mined.
Spokesman Ken Dally said the petition forms had been handed to the office of the Member for Orange Phil Donato to present to the government.
“We had just over 3000 signatures and Phil Donato intends to present it to Don Harwin [the minister for Resources, Energy and Utilities] and we’ll see where it goes from there,” he said.
“What we would like to like to see is the state government to quarantine the area for agriculture.”
The group had been seeking 10,000 signatures on the petition which would have triggered a debate in parliament on the matter.
However, Mr Dally said they were happy with what they had achieved.
“We only had a very brief time to do it and we didn’t have the resources,” he said.
What we would like to like to see is the state government to quarantine the area for agriculture.
- Ken Dally, Concerned Land Owners of the Orange region
The petition was placed at about 18 locations, including stores, cafes and wineries, throughout Orange, Nashdale and Borenore.
The group had a tight time limit to raise the signatures as state parliament is set to rise for the year on Thursday.
With the state election due on March 23 parliament will not sit again until May so the group was keen to get the matter brought to the government’s attention as soon as possible.
Mr Donato said he tabled the petition in state parliament on Wednesday.
He said Mr Harwin, as the minister responsible for that area, was then required to reply to it.
“He will reply with a written response. You usually get a written response in about six to eight weeks,” he said.
Mr Donato has said he had spoken to Fortescue Metals Group on behalf of the residents.
He said the company had indicated they were now reviewing the findings of the test drilling before deciding their next step.
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