Date posted May 17, 2010 | Posted by Michele Cullen | Filed under
Press Releases,
Staff FavouritesThe Premier of New South Wales, Kristina Keneally, has announced that the Government has supported the recommendations of the Planning Assessment Commission that the environmental risks, particularly water related risks, of the Bickham Coal project could not be sustainably managed and consequently the project could not be allowed to proceed to full merit assessment under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
The Thoroughbred Breeders of the Hunter Valley have welcomed Premier Keneally’s announcement.
“The Premier’s decision has put an end to ten long years of uncertainty for our industry and our community. The Thoroughbred Breeding Industry of the Hunter Valley and the many industries that support us can now proceed to build and invest in the future with certainty” Mr John Messara AM said.
The Hunter Valley is the nursery of Australia’s Thoroughbred Breeding Industry. It contains the largest concentration of Thoroughbred Breeding studs in the world outside of Kentucky in the US and produces around half of all Thoroughbreds born in Australia annually.
This concentration of Thoroughbred Breeding operations has attracted a sophisticated network of Thoroughbred Breeding support industries including hundreds of broodmare farms and the largest veterinary hospital in the Southern Hemisphere, the Scone Veterinary Hospital. It is for these reasons, along with the Hunter’s topography, environment and water systems, that the Hunter Valley is recognised as one of three international Thoroughbred Breeding Centres of Excellence, alongside Kentucky in the US and Newmarket in the UK.
The threat from mining encroachment however placed the future of Thoroughbred Breeding operations in the Upper Hunter at risk.
“This is a landmark decision that recognises the significance of our industry and preserves our precious water resources. It helps secure our future and the jobs of thousands of people in the Hunter Valley and hundreds of thousands of people across Australia in industries that rely on Thoroughbred Breeding in the Hunter Valley” Messara said.
press release
