Family dispute in Land Court
A family dispute involving gold mining, a pristine nature reserve and tourist attraction has spilled over into the Land Court.
Cobbold Gorge is a reserve and a tourist attraction 30km south of Forsayth and five hours south-west of Cairns.
A nature reserve was declared at the Cobbold Gorge in June 2009.
The reserve is part of local wildlife corridors and protects several regional ecosystems not represented otherwise, and the Terry family runs advanced
Eco Tourism Eco Certified tours into the gorge.
Cobbold Gorge Tours Pty Ltd lodged the mining application, encompassing nearly 120ha of land within the bed and banks of Agate Creek from its junction with the Robertson River to the north, on July 12 last year to mine for gold, tin and mineral sands.
Simon Terry is the sole director of Cobbold Gorge Tours, and is a joint leaseholder at Lot 2, a pastoral lease and cattle enterprise jointly held by him and his brother David.
The majority of the mining lease lies on the nature reserve, but it includes a small part of the pastoral lease.
Simon Terry gave evidence that there would be no need for permanent infrastructure with the mine, that the workforce would be accommodated offsite, no toxic chemicals would be used in the mining process and the mining would only proceed in the dry season.
David Terry objected to the application on December 7, 2022, claiming he was given insufficient notice; that there was no compensation agreement; there would be a negative impact on the nature reserve including its flora and fauna; there would be negative effects on roads already affected by other existing mines; and that his brother Simon had no mining experience.
The Land Court Deputy
Registrar wrote to David Terry on December 23 last year to tell him the Department of Resources had referred his objection to the Land Court, and if he wanted to take an active role in the hearing, he had to file a Notice of Election by January 18, 2023. He did not do that and nor did he make any request to become a party in the hearing.
On April 17 this year, James McNamara, a member of the Land Court, was guided by Simon Terry on a site inspection.
The objection was heard on April 19, and he delivered his verdict on May 10 in Brisbane.
“I have carefully considered the evidence in this matter,” Mr McNamara wrote.
“I have carefully considered the criteria in s 269(4) of the MRA. I accept that there is public interest in protecting areas of high conservation value however the evidence does not support a conclusion that the values the nature refuge hold are at risk. There is no other good reason for refusing the grant.
“Weighing the relevant factors in the balance, I consider that the evidence before the Court favours the grant of ML 100317.”