It’s a nervous wait until mid-October for objectors and proponents alike of the Fingerboards Mineral Sands mine, particularly as the proponent has recently applied for the mining licence.
On July 22 the Inquiry and Advisory Committee (IAC) hearing into the mine concluded, with the committee required to submit its recommendations to the Minister for Planning, Richard Wynne, within 40 business days.
Minister Wynne then has 25 working days to announce his decision, due October 21. It’s an intolerable wait for Yvette Waller, whose family has farmed between the Fingerboards and the Glenaladale Hall for generations, and was one of many who made impassioned pleas at the IAC hearing in Bairnsdale.
Ms Waller, 33, grew up in Glenaladale in the historic family homestead, ‘Glenloch’, built in 1912 by great grandparents Tom and Maud Morrison.
She is worried if the mine is approved the result will be “catastrophically devastating” for the region and have a “snowball effect”.
“The resource is a stream from Glenaladale to Orbost,” Ms Waller said. “All the beautiful reasons to live here would be lost. You won’t want to farm near it or holiday near it.”
IMAGE: Yvette Waller, pictured on her family farm, says waiting for government decisions regarding the Fingerboards sand mine gives people a lot of anxiety. (PS)
