City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder moves to preserve popular camping & fishing spot from ‘encroaching’ mining

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder council has moved to preserve a popular camping and fishing spot from “encroaching” mining applications. The council unanimously voted to support a motion to seek additional protection for the Lake Douglas reserve south-west of the city. Speaking at the meeting, Cr Nardia Turner said she was pleased city staff had paid attention to the “very important” motion. “Mining is an integral part of our city, however, we can’t let it overshadow and overtake things,” she said. “(We can’t) turn a blind eye if we don’t think that something’s happening that’s the right thing to happen for all of our community. “It’s a really important part of our city and our community . . . I’d like it to be protected however we can.” The city will request the minister refuse current mining tenement applications before it applies for an exemption protecting those land parcels in liaison with the Shire of Coolgardie. The motion seeks to protect it from any activity that might affect its primary purposes of recreation and conservation. City mayor Glenn Wilson told the Kalgoorlie Miner the decision was a “strategic approach” to protect the reserve. “We’re seeing an increased number of mining tenements and licence applications encroaching on the reserve,” he said. “We are promoting and we are advocating for the protection of the Lake Douglas reserve to ensure that it remains in the future and is not encroached on by mining activities.” He said going forward the council would seek consultation on whether protection should be sought for other reserves.