RESIDENT RIGHTS VS MINING
THE recent announcement of a mining consortium wanting to look for minerals and nuclear substances on the West Tamar (The Examiner, July 2) has caused angst, fear and divide among families.
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In 2021 it is time to have more transparency of who, where and when for residents and businesses including a condition of priority closed loop up front.
The days of "oh you have no control 300 millimetres under your property" are over, as are the incompetence of mines and explorations that leave behind disasters with arrogance.
Yes, we need minerals for medical and everyday use in our society, hence research and development funding must be collected in royalties to find alternatives that fit with the global temperature changes, addressing future use of substances and less throw away components or the cheap attitude to used goods.
To me as I bounce towards the end of life, it is hard to grasp the pace of goods on the market and attitudes to "must have".
Living in the Exeter Basin of West Tamar that is the residue of a huge Ice Age glacier millions of years old, the underbelly of clay, gravel and minerals, not unlike those dredged of old at Pioneer, Tasmania, or in Malaysia.
There is support for real responsible quarries-open cut and underground mining if it is "best practice", but even that should be at least two kilometres from any town/hamlet or residence and never tunnel under these as occurred in the old parts of Beaconsfield.
Governments have for centuries failed to force the miners to place residue back, by pre-planning refilling stopes/open cuts as a condition. Fortunately our local lime/silica quarrier does have good residue practices.
The danger is politicians come and go with no real care of what happens in decades beyond their fat pension pay out.
Total public transparency must occur before exploration is signed and remain enforced with pre-paid remediation deposits.
Mike Grey, West Tamar.
MEETING JUST FOR COMMUNITY
As a resident of Westbury, I am pleased that the Meander Valley Council has agreed to hold a public meeting about the proposed northern prison, however it is not a place for Minister Elise Archer or indeed the state government to attend.
Minister Archer held her own meeting and had her own people conduct it and in that meeting the only answers she provided were: it's too early to say, that's an operational issue so I can't comment or that won't happen.
Minister Archer hasn't shown any interest in the community so far so why now? It is also not a platform for the welfare and rehabilitation of prisoners to be discussed.
This meeting should be for the whole community, there are the members of Westbury Region Opposed to the Prison who oppose the prison, and then there are the people who oppose the prison who are not members of WRAP, and then of course there are the people who support the prison.
This meeting is about a community and the council that are there to represent it, and should not be made political.
Carol Firth, Westbury.
LEAVE CATS ALONE
WHEN they control dogs and their owners, and all the dog poo especially on the footpath in Landale Street, they can then start worrying about cats and their antics.
We live amongst pigeons and cats and no one's cats ever bother chasing them.
Most people do lock up their cats, but all cats should be free to roll outside and enjoy the sun - even if on a lead.
I don't like birds being killed. Keep your cats fed and happy and they won't be a problem
