Are you a new resident to the Scenic Rim? Have you started a new business here in our stunning region? You may not realise how lucky you are to live and work in such a breathtakingly beautiful place in 2023. It is no coincidence that the Scenic Rim was included in the Lonely Planet’s 2022 ‘Top 10 Best Regions in the World’.
But, just over a decade ago our community found out that all the beauty and rural amenity of the Scenic Rim was under threat.
Imagine two ( yes two!) open cut coal mines between Boonah and Rathdowney. Coal trucks and coal dust along our country roads day in day out……. a large-scale gas pipeline from NSW running right through the middle of our region from the Border Ranges to Ipswich……. and a network of coal seam gas wells and processing plants right across our very best farmlands ……… the Scenic Rim was set to become a toxic gas-field.
However, the community rallied together and took action the only way they knew how …. by standing shoulder to shoulder in protest to fight against the coal and gas companies who planned to turn our Scenic Rim into an industrial zone. Less than 10% of the Scenic Rim was free of these planned developments!
Had community not rallied together back then our burgeoning agricultural and tourism businesses would not be what they are today. There would be no Farm Gate Trails, Eat Local Month, music festivals, or Lonely Planet top 10 listing of regions in the world, if community had not fought so hard to protect the Scenic Rim for those of us who enjoy living and visiting here today.
In 2011 a group called Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic (KTSRS) was formed as a subcommittee under the banner of BOSS.
KTSRS was made up of local farmers, business owners, residents and people from other regions concerned with protecting our rural and social amenity. For over eleven years they worked and stood watch to drive away the threat, particularly between 2011 and 2013 after many intense times of blockade and protest actions.
In June 2022 the final coal seam gas lease was terminated….yes….June 2022……the threat was still there less than a year ago!
But now our Scenic Rim is coal and gas free……forever.
This is a true story of people power in action.
But the history has not been fully recorded and the victory not celebrated ……. yet. With support from Scenic Rim Regional Council, KTSRS are going to tell this story in an upcoming exhibition at The Centre Beaudesert.
The ‘Moving Mountains’ exhibition will run from 17 June until 2 September with the official opening at 3pm on Saturday 17 June.
This exhibition is for you. For new and old residents and business owners who love our Scenic Rim and enjoy the benefits of its wide and varied environment and opportunities. For those who live outside the area who joined us in our fight. For everyone who cares about climate change, the environment, and community standing strong.
We invite you to come to the launch, visit the exhibition, enjoy the award-winning film screenings and associated events planned during July and August. It’s going to be fun!
Our team are all volunteers with a variety of skills, but we’re also engaging artists and expert technicians to create video and other materials to record these important nationally significant stories. It’s a big job but we’re passionate about keeping this David and Goliath history alive …… people power really can move mountains.
We’ve begun a crowd funding campaign to raise necessary funds for exhibition expenses. Could you chip in a little (or a lot 😉) to help us pay our artists? We have a number of donation tiers available to choose from, some with neat added perks, and if you choose to become a major sponsor there’s bigger perks and sponsored naming rights also available. Perfect for businesses wanting to support a great cause and be recognised as part of an historic event.
All major sponsors will be recognised not only this year at the ‘Moving Mountains’ exhibition …… but also in a proposed full-length documentary we’re planning for 2024.
Two local businesses, Mt Barney Lodge and O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, have pledged early support by becoming major sponsors and we are very thankful for their support. They recognise how different they Scenic Rim would be, and the impact on their businesses had coal and gas won.
Please share the word far and wide, come see the exhibition and help to celebrate keeping our magnificent Scenic Rim scenic forever.
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