Two years after it announced its plans to ravage the fertile Felton Valley south west of Toowoomba with coal mines and coal liquefaction plants Ambre Energy has yet to secure the necessary supply of water, provide plans to capture and store carbon and provide an Environmental Impact statement. Rob McCreath of Friends of Felton has called upon the Queensland Governemnt to intervene to reject Ambre Energy's plans so that farmers can proceed with their lives without any further uncertainty.

See also: "Felton farmers left in the dark" in the Toowoomba Chronicle of 12 Jan 10, "Farmers 'held hostage by mining plans'" in the Sydney Morning Herald of 11 Jan 10, "Agriculture v Mining - Friends of the Felton Valley and the Haystack Plain" on Brisbane ABC radio's Evenings with Steve Austin of 4 Jun 09, including audio files of debate (10 Mb) between John Cotter, the President of Agforce and the Chief Executive of Queensland Resources, Michael Roche and interview (10Mb) with Rob McCreath of Friends of Felton, "Farmers occupy Qld Premier's office to save Darling Downs from coal mining" of 2 Nov 08, "Rural town threatened by open cut coal-mine: Acland, Queensland" of 10 Jan 10, Friends of Felton web site at www.fof.org.au and blog site at www.friendsoffelton.blogspot.com.

Farmers from the Felton Valley in Queensland's Darling Downs occupied Queensland Premier Anna Bligh's Office in West End in order to prevent the destruction of irreplacable farmland from the ravages of an out-of-control boom in coal mining, coal seam gas extraction and coal liquefaction. The protest was typically ignored by Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper which is far more interested in drumming up enthusiasm about the claimed prosperity that the coal industry will bring to the Darling Downs.

See also: www.friendsoffelton.blogspot.com, YouTube broadcast of (Oct 2008(?)) "Coal Mines To Replace Farms in Australia", "Darling Downs community fights farmland for mine move" in Sunday Mail of 1 Nov 08 (Friday's protest not reported), "Coal vs cropping fight widens" in Stock and Land of 15 Oct 08, "Lone stand as coalminers poised to bulldoze Acland" in the Courier Mail of 18 Oct 08, "Darling Downs farmers vow to resist coal miners" in the Courier Mail of 5 Oct 08.

Whilst the Bligh Government has scrapped the environmentally damaging shale oil mining project in the Whitsundays, a rural community further south faces the threats of an open cut coal-mine and coal-to-liquid plant in their midst. These projects could devastate one of this country’s most beautiful & fertile valleys, pollute the Murray Darling river system, destroy nationally significant populations of rare & endangered species, and produce huge quantities of Greenhouse gases.

See also: www.friendsoffelton.blogspot.com, Qld farmers want new rules for mining in Sunshine Coast Daily of 2 Sep 08.