Presentation to the PAC MTW Mine Expansion and Extension 2014 Glenn Albrecht PhD December 18 2014
The Context • The ‘coal triangle’ of the Upper Hunter, bounded roughly by Muswellbrook, Singleton and Broke, covers about 390 square kilometres of river flats and the Hunter Valley floor • The Mt Thorley-Warkworth-Bulga mines cover approximately 55.5 square kilometres or approx. 14% of the coal triangle • The Warkworth-Mt Thorley-Bulga mine exists within a 16.5 km long and up to 4 km wide strip of land from Jerry’s Plains Road in the North to near the village of Broke in the South • The Bulga mine complex is contiguous with the Mt Thorley mine. Glenn Albrecht PhD
EIS MTW for Coal and Applied 2014 Figure 2.2 of the EIS Warkworth Continuation 2014. Glenn Albrecht PhD
The Context • The village of Bulga, at the location Cockfighter Creek Tavern, is approximately 4.2 kilometres from the edge of the current Warkworth mine • If MTW expansion is approved, the village of Bulga will be 2.4 kilometres from the development consent boundary for MTW mine. Glenn Albrecht PhD
Negative States Origin Positive States Origin Solastalgia Albrecht 2003 Topophilia Tuan 1974 Solastalgia Vs Topophilia I created the concept of solastalgia in 2003 to give expression to a feeling of existential desolation about the emplaced and lived experience of the chronic deterioration of a loved home environment. “ The homesickness you have when you are still at home ” Topophilia, the love of landscape or place, was developed by the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan (1974). Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia • The pain or sickness caused by the inability to derive solace from the present state of one’s home environment • It is the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change to one’s ‘sense of place’ • Feelings of powerlessness and a loss of hope about the future Image: Allan Chawner 2008 Glenn Albrecht PhD
Sense of place and Solastalgia: Source Material • I have conducted over 50 face-to-face interviews with mining affected people in the Upper Hunter region and the material from these interviews has helped establish the veracity of the concept of solastalgia • Affidavits from the people of Bulga for the Warkworth Case • Statements in response to ‘interview’ questions from Bulga residents • Media statements • Singleton L&EC testimony before Justice Preston (personal attendance) Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia “… it almost reduces me to tears to think about it [mining]. When the coal is gone, the people ... will be left with nothing but the final void.” (Upper Hunter woman) Image: Allan Chawner 2008 Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia “ Well, I noticed when this business with [mine name], when I was really fighting here. And my manager would come to me and say he didn’t sleep last night. The noise, because they’re loading right near the road, he’s just across the creek from the road. And you hear a drag line swinging around and dumping rocks into a truck. And then the truck would back away ... beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And then the next one would roar in. He used to say to me “we just can’t cope any longer” ... I lost a lot of weight. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with my stomach like that (note: clenched fist), and think, what am I going to do? We’re losing money, they won’t listen to me, what do I do? Do I go broke? I can’t sell to anybody, nobody wants to buy it because it’s right next to the mine. What do I do? And Image: Allan Chawner 2008 I was a real mess ” (Upper Hunter woman) Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia “ It is very depressing, it brings you down ... Even (indigenous) people that don’t have the traditional ties to the area … it still brings them down. It is pathetic just to drive along, they cannot stand that drive. We take different routes to travel down south just so we don’t have to see all the holes, all the dirt … because it makes you wild ” (Upper Hunter Indigenous man) Image: Allan Chawner 2008 Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia: The Affadavits The landscape between Bulga and Singleton is already hideous and will never be properly remediated. Now they want to destroy the Warkworth Sands Woodlands – an irreplaceable endangered ecology – and other areas designated non-disturbance areas IN PERPETUITY. We have already lost far too much of the environment for the sake of profits for overseas companies. It is time to value the environment over royalties. (Bulga woman) Image: Allan Chawner 2008 Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia: The Affadavits About 12 months ago I have been able to see mining vehicles appearing on the spoil heaps at Mount Thorley Mine. From on or about December 2011, I have been able to see Warkworth mining vehicles above Saddle Ridge during the day and at night. Seeing the spoil heaps during the day and the mining lights in the evening is a constant reminder of the mines, and has taken away from the country rural night time aspect of Bulga. The once scenic views I enjoyed from my property have recently given way to ugly spoil heaps. (Bulga man) Image: Allan Chawner 2008 Glenn Albrecht PhD
The Interview Questions 4) Effects on Health and Well-Being Have any of these changes had an impact on your or your family’s health or wellbeing? Prompt: In what ways? What are the good and bad aspects of these changes? Jobs? Economy? Roads? Infrastructure? Community? Social Networks? Amenities? 6) Sense of Place How would you describe your feeling towards the place where you live? Prompts: attachment, belonging, sense of pride, shame, distress, stress, anger, frustration. • Note: in both questions open and positive and negative prompts were provided and respondents were free to choose their angle of response because no interviewer was present to promote any particular prompt. If their response to Q 6 was negative then Question 7 asked them to elaborate on what was negative and the prompts were designed to help them explain “ what ways do people show or voice their concerns and distress about some of these changes?” Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia: Interview Material The shame that we have is what the miners have done to the land. I am more than angry! I am pissed off at them. (Bulga resident) Grazing land has given way to large overburden stockpiles. Scenic views have given way to Ugly Spoil heaps. Clean air has given way to continued dust haze. Quiet country nights have given way to the roar of mines. Proud of what we have but distressed because we are losing it. Anger at being betrayed by both Government and Warkworth Mine (Bulga resident) Image: Allan Chawner Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia: ‘Interview’ Material The way in which people show the concern about the current situation is severe anxiety and stress. This is brought about by the noise, blasting and dust levels and the potential loss of values of their land and the possibility of having to move away from the problem. I understand there are people in Bulga who are suffering from depression because of the mines’ activities . (Bulga citizen) Image: Allan Chawner Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia: Media Bulga women want out Date: 15-Feb-12 Author: Singleton Argus NOT everyone in Bulga wants to fight the $600million Warkworth open-cut coalmine expansion. Three residents told The Argus yesterday, they wanted compensation now for "horrendous" impacts they've endured for years. Danielle Hanson, Nerida Lepisto and Toni Silk said coalmining had divided the Bulga community, some people wanted to get out immediately, some wanted to fight on and some accepted the situation. "We're sick of it, we've complained for more than two years about noise, dust and blasting vibrations from current operations and it just continues, " said Mrs Hanson. "It's mainly Coal and Allied's Warkworth open-cut, but there's also Peabody's Wambo and Xstrata's Bulga mine .” (http://wage.org.au/news/display/7926 ) Glenn Albrecht PhD
Singleton Courthouse Meeting I do not accept, however, that the concerns expressed by Bulga residents in the interview responses can be discounted. The interview responses are part of the larger picture of evidence from the community, including the affidavit evidence, and oral evidence provided on the site view and given in Singleton courthouse. Justice Preston L&EC Outside Singleton Courthouse. Image: Glenn Albrecht Glenn Albrecht PhD
Solastalgia and Bulga In summary, the EMM SIA has failed to address the key issue of loss of sense of place, a vital component of the definition of the experience of solastalgia. For the authors to argue that … “ The reference case (if the proposals were not to proceed) would have a subsequent 'loss of sense of place' for a different set of stakeholders if viable mining could not be maintained” indicates a complete failure to understand the intrinsic values of place and endemic place attachment. Image: Allan Chawner Glenn Albrecht PhD
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