Policy proposal developed to protect WA agriculture from mining

A policy proposal to protect agricultural communities in WA from mining has been submitted to the State Government.

The proposal has been developed by the Residents for Responsible Mining, a community group based at Chittering, about an hour north of Perth.

The group was formed three years ago in response to a proposal by Bauxite Alumina JV, which is a joint venture between Bauxite Resources Limited and Yangkuang Resources Limited, a Chinese Government owned entity, to develop a bauxite mine at Bindoon.

Clair Medhurst is the Co-Convenor of Residents for Responsible Mining.

"We're protecting them from essentially incompatible land uses. Bauxite mining is a very large scale operation, it takes up, hundreds of hectares are cleared and strip mined every year. It's something that's mined in millions of tonnes not smaller quantities and it is essentially incompatible with traditional land uses of agriculture which obviously go together with the use of water resources, land health, natural vegetation health and of course it's where people live."

Clair Medhurst says the policy proposal could be applied to any agricultural community in WA.

"On paper this could apply anywhere in Western Australia with private land, the qualification being it applies to private land, so it's defined according to lot size and the sort of land use activities that go on there and have gone on there for many years, local planning conditions and a number of other criteria."

The Environmental Protection Authority says the Bauxite Alumina Joint Venture proposal to develop a bauxite mine at Chittering is effectively on hold.

The EPA is waiting for the proponent to submit its Environmental Scoping Document which outlines the scope of the project and the environmental studies required.