Drilling Halted In Bacchus Marsh
21 Sep 2011 Comments Off in No New Coal Baccus Marshby Quit Coal
On Monday we halted operations at Mantle Mining’s test drilling site in Bacchus Marsh, with myself locking onto an 8-metre-tall drill rig for 5 hours (check out the video here). With every major news station in attendance, we have now successfully exposed Mantle’s plans to expropriate private property and destroy farmlands to profit from dirty brown coal exports.
During the action, our team’s spirit was bouyed by the warm support we received from the numerous locals who stopped by for a chat. In a beautiful gesture, one sympathetic Bachhus retiree volunteered to leaflet thousands of houses on behalf of our campaign!
We have also been bouyed by reports that Ted Bailleau has apparently distanced himself from Mantle’s project in response to our protest, saying there is no guarantee the company will be permitted to establish a mine in the area. And happily, no charges have been laid as a result of today’s action. Read more →
“You can’t be here, this is our area!”
02 Sep 2011 Comments Off in No New Coal Baccus Marshby Quit Coal
Wow, what a week!
First, the good news – Finance company Intersuisse this week pulled out of underwriting Mantle Mining’s plans to destroy farmlands and export dirty brown coal from Bacchus Marsh. This is a massive win for us. Last week, nearly 200 people sent emails through to Intersuisse indicating their willingness to take peaceful direct action against coal exports from Bacchus Marsh, and it has had an immediate effect. Congratulations!
However, the bad news – at the last minute, another financing company named Cygnet stepped in and unfortunately as of today the project is still going ahead.
Cygnet has blindly jumped onto this project with no idea what they are getting themselves in for. That’s why it’s important we show them how much community opposition there is to it! Send them the email below to tell them just what you told Intersuisse – that they are making a big mistake if they think the Victorian community will accept them profiteering at the expense of farms, landowners rights and our climate! Read more →