New signs!

Lithgow city council have recently installed new signage at Clarence Pirie Park and Pearsons Lookout!


Thanks to Ally 
Sheldon, Mathew 
Brewster, Kellie 
Barrow and the staff of Lithgow 
City Council.

Paul Toole " Wallerawang power station closure is just a rumour"

ABC RADIO:

The Member for Bathurst says he has been told by Energy Australia claims the Wallerawang power station is closing are just rumours.

The Australian Workers Union says employees at the facility have been told the plant will be mothballed by March.

Energy Australia bought the power plant along with a facility at Mount Piper from the state government in July for $160m.

Energy Australia have indicated that they are reviewing their operations and what they are hearing at the moment is rumour.

The Nationals' Paul Toole, says he has spoken to the company about the concerns.

"I'm hearing lots of different rumours, lots of speculation at the moment by the unions, in relation to the power stations at Wallerawang," he said.

The full story is here:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-08/toole-wallerawang/5077980

Alan Jones apologies to Kate McFarlane

Some thing a little interesting!


Alan Jones – 7.42am. Friday 8 November 2013
......just on Brad Hazzard, a week ago you might have missed it because it was early in the programme, I had a bit of an altercation with Brad Hazzard on my programme.
He’s a very decent man Brad Hazzard, over whether or not his Chief of Staff, a woman by the name of Kate McFarlane was at meetings with the coalmining outfit Coalpac, who in fact had lost an application to mine in the Lithgow area.
She had been mentioned in a newspaper article as having been present at meetings with the mining company and hadn’t declared an interest in that she allegedly owned a property adjacent to the mine or overlooking the mine.
Let me just say this in the light of quite a bit of material that’s been sent to me. It appears to me that everything that’s been said about this woman, Kate McFarlane, including suggestions by me in that interview with her boss, or I questioned Brad Hazzard, that all of that is wrong. In so far as her property in the area is adjacent or overlooking the mine, I now understand it’s 8kms away.
So I think the Premier in answering questions in the Parliament got it right when he said, if you think Redfern is near or adjacent to or overlooks The Rocks, you probably have a problem. And that’s as adjacent as Kate McFarlane’s property is to the mine.
However the most important point is that these things were answered comprehensively in the Parliament by Brad Hazzard and the Premier and it’s now quite clear that there were three meetings at different times with this Coalpac coal company and its personnel and on no occasion was Kate McFarlane present. As simple as that.
And in a letter from Sam Haddad, the Director General of the Department of Planning & Infrastructure, he makes the point, quote, Ms McFarlane has never sought in any conversation or otherwise to influence the Department’s rigorous and independent merit based recommendation in regard to the Coalpac mine, unquote.
Now we, but if something is done which is wrong in relation to a particular person, it’s very important to let you know about that. And I think much of what was said- all of what was said, I’m sorry, not much [but all] about Ms McFarlane was wrong.
So Ms McFarlane, head high, get on with your work. I think those who’ve had a stab, including in that very rather heated exchange I had with Brad Hazzard, were on the wrong tram. We’ve got off that tram, and hopefully you can continue with your reputation intact.....

2GB [DAB] 2013-11-08 07-43-21.Jones on planning
551K   Download  

Another Coalpac update.

ANOTHER 'COALPAC' UPDATE: Daily Telegraph: 'Robyn Parker's office was told of Coalpac coal mine conflict'.

Todays Daily Telegraph is reporting that, "THE office of Environment Minister Robyn Parker - whose department opposed the Coalpac coal mine -was told by the Planning Minister Brad Hazzard's chief of staff Kath McFarlane that she owned property near the mine.

Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner, Treasurer Mike Baird and Resources Minister Chris Hartcher - who were all backing the project - were never told by Ms McFarlane that she owned four lots nearby.

Ms Parker's office declined to comment yesterday but it is understood Ms McFarlane told Ms Parker's chief of staff about the conflict.

Coalpac were never told.

Mr Hazzard has referred himself to ICAC after Daily Telegraph revelations on the issue. He has also been accused of misleading parliament by Coalpac chief executive Ian Follington who says he met Ms McFarlane and spoke to her by telephone several times and she never mentioned she owned 42ha of land near the mine site. Mr Hazzard claimed in parliament on Thursday that she had never met Coalpac."

The full media report is here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com. au/news/nsw/robyn-parkers-office-was-told-of-coalpac-coal-mine-conflict/story-fni0cx12-1226752394095

Thanks to the Lithgow Rate Payers for the information.

Update on Coalpac scandal

Daily Telegraph: 'Lithgow mine scandal - NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard's chief of staff Kath McFarlane has property near rejected mine.'

Here are some online links to the many media reports that followed up on this issue yesterday:

Radio 2GB's Alan Jones talking to Planning Minister Brad Hazzard: http://www.2gb.com/audioplayer /20376#.UnJIhb64Zy0

Radio 2GB's Ray Hadley talking about the Daily Telegraph's story: http://www.2gb.com/audioplayer /20391#.UnJI_764Zy0

The follow up story in the Daily Telegraph: http://www.dailytelegraph.com. au/news/nsw/nsw-planning-minister-brad-hazzard-refers-himself-to-icac-as-more-claims-emerge/story-fni0cx12-1226750888799#mm-breached

The Daily Telegraph has reported that:

"Mr Hazzard has also tabled (in State Parliament) notes of three meetings in 2012 he had with Coalpac where his chief of staff, Kath McFarlane, was not present to prove claims she met Coalpac over the matter were wrong.

The chief executive of the company, Ian Follington, had told The Daily Telegraph he held meetings with the minister and his chief of staff "early" in their lobbying for the mine extension.

ABC Central West Radio News: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-31/minister-brad-hazzard-refers-himself-to-icac/5062020?&section=news

Here is yesterday's State Parliament Hansard record on the controversial Coalpac issue (on pages 33,36,39 and 42): http://www.parliament.nsw.gov. au/Prod/Parlment/hanstrans.nsf /V3ByKey/LA20131031/$File/LA20 131031.pdf

Coalpac mining scandal!

Daily Telegraph: 'Lithgow mine scandal -NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard's chief of staff Kath McFarlane has property near rejected mine.'

"A COAL mine extension proposed near Blue Mountains properties owned by the state Planning Minister's chief of staff was knocked back by the planning department, despite NSW Treasury warnings a rejection would drive power prices up 4 to 12 per cent and cost 500 jobs.

Neither Planning Minister Brad Hazzard nor his chief of staff Kath McFarlane ever declared her interest - four properties on 42ha she and her husband bought in 2007 overlooking the site - to Coalpac during meetings between the company, the minister and Ms McFarlane.

Coalpac's chief executive Ian Follington said yesterday he held several meetings with Mr Hazzard with Ms McFarlane present and there had been no mention she had property that overlooked the site or was near the site.

"Some of the early meetings we had with the minister she sat in on," Mr Follington said. "She's been in the process ... because everything that goes through the minister's department would go through the chief of staff."

Full details
The Daily Telegraph
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/lithgow-mine-scandal-nsw-planning-minister-brad-hazzards-chief-of-staff-kath-mcfarlane-has-property-near-rejected-mine/story-fni0cx12-1226750039974

Wang power station to close?

The decline of base-load electricity: Is solar about to claim it's biggest victim - Wallerawang Power Station? With more than 100 job losses.

Following our initial gmail below sent out early last month, it looks very much assured now that the decline of base-load electricity due to solar power is going to close the Wallerawang Power Station with the loss of more than 100 jobs.

A number of employees and contractors have now confirmed reports that whilst not yet publicly official, they have been advised that their Wallerawang Power Station is now set to be closed down in March next year, 2014.

And our local bearer of photo opportunities Mayor Maree Statham, has confirmed this on ABC Radio this morning: 'Union meeting Wednesday over Wallerawang power station shutdown rumours'.

It looks like this Editorial in the Lithgow Mercury last year was very much on the money going out of Greater Lithgow: 'Paul Toole supports power generator sell off'

However we're not sure if another closure of one of our major employers in Greater Lithgow will bring about many more similar photo opportunities for our local Nationals State Member for Bathurst like this: Paul Toole MP - Facebook , particularly with the next State Election due just twelve months after the Wallerawang Power Station is closed.

If the Unions were not happy before - 'ETU slams power station sale' - they won't be very happy now?

And what will the knock-on effects be on local employment following the closure of the Wallerawang Power Station, particularly after the recently announced job losses of 120 employees by Centennial Coal in our local Coal Mines; and when there's now going to be no need to mine the millions of tonnes of coal each year that goes towards running a soon to be closed, 1000MW Coal Fired Power Station n NSW?

Details obtained from Lithgow Ratepayers.