MEDIA RELEASE 11th May 2009
Government would gain no royalties from a Felton coal mine
The Felton Valley, 30km southwest of Toowoomba, Qld, is under threat from a proposal by Ambre Energy to build a 12.8 million t/yr open-cut coal mine, a petrochemical plant to convert the coal into liquid fuel, and a power station.
Legal advice obtained by Friends of Felton indicates that royalties payable on any coal mined at Felton would not be payable to the Queensland Government.
Section 8 (2) (b) of the Qld Mineral & Resources Act 1989 states –
“Coal on or below the surface of the land is the property of the Crown except where that land was alienated in fee simple by the Crown before 1 March 1910……”
Farms at Felton were granted freehold title long before 1910.
Spokesman Rob McCreath said- “The so-called Felton Clean Coal Project would have disastrous environmental impacts, destroy some of this country’s best farmland, and inflict huge social impacts on a large rural population. Our legal advice shows that there is no royalty bonanza in this for the Government. The Ambre Energy proposal clearly fails the ‘Public Interest’ test, and would in fact channel huge wealth into the hands of a few shareholders without meeting the costs it would inflict on the public at large through permanent and widespread damage to the natural environment.”
Government would gain no royalties from a Felton coal mine
The Felton Valley, 30km southwest of Toowoomba, Qld, is under threat from a proposal by Ambre Energy to build a 12.8 million t/yr open-cut coal mine, a petrochemical plant to convert the coal into liquid fuel, and a power station.
Legal advice obtained by Friends of Felton indicates that royalties payable on any coal mined at Felton would not be payable to the Queensland Government.
Section 8 (2) (b) of the Qld Mineral & Resources Act 1989 states –
“Coal on or below the surface of the land is the property of the Crown except where that land was alienated in fee simple by the Crown before 1 March 1910……”
Farms at Felton were granted freehold title long before 1910.
Spokesman Rob McCreath said- “The so-called Felton Clean Coal Project would have disastrous environmental impacts, destroy some of this country’s best farmland, and inflict huge social impacts on a large rural population. Our legal advice shows that there is no royalty bonanza in this for the Government. The Ambre Energy proposal clearly fails the ‘Public Interest’ test, and would in fact channel huge wealth into the hands of a few shareholders without meeting the costs it would inflict on the public at large through permanent and widespread damage to the natural environment.”
.JPG)
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