Prime opportunity to protect ag land

Farmers everywhere are watching what's happening - many share the sentiment that what's being allowed is criminal and shows a complete disregard for agriculture, water resources and the environment.

And it's all for a quick buck.

The Shenhua development is on a ridge which runs through the Breeza Plain, which is not only considered some of the best food growing and farming country on the Liverpool Plains, but in the whole of Australia - and it has underground water.

This combination of quality soil and water is what makes the region so valuable for agriculture, and is the very thing being put at risk, especially when the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is backing more research into groundwater because it has identified knowledge gaps.

The University of NSW (UNSW) has also pointed specifically to gaps in groundwater knowledge in Shenhua's proposal.

The State government is trading the Breeza Plain's long term agricultural potential for the short term gain of mining.

When The Land spoke to former Nationals leader Andrew Stoner in its half-time analysis in March, 2013, he put the Strategic Regional Land Use Policy (SRLUP), Critical Industry Clusters (CICs) and the Aquifer Interference Policy forward as key achievements for the party at that point in time, saying the coalition had the balance right.

CICs have only been used to protect race horses, the SRLUP has been proven as ineffective at protecting prime agricultural land and given comments from the UNSW and MDBA regarding groundwater, it also raises questions about the effectiveness of the Aquifer Interference Policy.

Protecting prime farm land and water was one of the coalition's key election promises in 2012 - current Nats leader Troy Grant said the only way to have these issues resolved was to "have a direct line to government on these matters".

The Nationals have had this for a whole term, but on this promise they've achieved next to nothing.