Councillors last week voted in favour of writing to the Minister for Resources and Energy Lily D’Ambrosio to state council’s opposition.

The mineral resource mapping recently released by the Victorian government indicates the presence of coal seams within the northern areas of the Indigo Shire.

Cr Jenny O’Connor said there was clear evidence of the dangerous impacts of extraction of coal seam gas on land and water in agricultural areas both overseas and within Australia.

“We need to make it clear where council stands on this issue,” she said.

“Council undertook community consultation last year and there were a lot of concerns expressed from rural people.

“We plan to write to the minister or even try to organise a meeting.

“It’s about making a clear statement to the minister and government that we don’t want this.

“This is a precautionary measure as council has a strong commitment to protect agricultural land and water.”

Cr O’Connor said evidence and experience around the world to date had shown CSG exploration and extraction could have serious impacts.

“This is a direct threat to our agricultural land and we don’t want to risk our assets,” she said.

“A major focus has always been sustainability — the protection and management of resources.

“We made a stand at Stanley recently with council showing its advocacy over a proposed commercial water extraction industry on prime agricultural land.”