A mining company’s last ditch legal bid to revive its gold mining plans at Bird in Hand has failed

A proposed gold mine at Bird in Hand – next to a number of feted Adelaide Hills wineries – appears doomed after a last-ditch legal challenge failed.

Jim Franklin-McEvoy from the Inverbrackie Creek Catchment Group, says hopefully the gold mine saga is over.

Plans to develop a gold mine adjacent to the feted Bird in Hand winery in the Adelaide Hills appear to finally be shelved, with a bid for a judicial review into the Mining Minister’s decision to block the project being dismissed.

Adelaide-based mining company Terramin Australia has for the past 15 years been trying to develop a gold mine at Woodside, on a piece of land surrounded by wineries including Bird in Hand.

The wineries, including Petaluma and Artwine, along with a group of local food providers, fought the proposal from the early days, arguing the risk from mining operations to the aquifer which supplied their properties was too great.

Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis blocked Terramin's mining lease ­application in February last year, saying at the time that declining to grant the project approval was not a decision he took lightly, but he was “acutely aware of community concerns about the proposal, including from nearby wineries, residents and the local community’’.

“The area of the proposed mine is home to a world-class viticulture industry, producing some of Australia’s best-loved wines,” he said.

“Tourism to the region is a critical contributor to the local economy and, on balance, there remains a possibility this proposed short-term mine may adversely affect the established and significant long-term agricultural and tourism industries of the Woodside area immediately adjacent the project areas.’’

Bird in Hand Winery at Woodside. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

The Minister said he was, “not willing to risk these established local industries against the opportunity this short-term mine may provide, and have decided it is in the state’s interest to decline the mining lease and miscellaneous purposes licence applications by Terramin for its Bird in Hand gold project’’.

The Minister said on Monday that the area was home to a world-class vitivulture industry.

“Now that the court has upheld the government’s decision, I suspect Adelaide Hills businesses are breathing a sigh of relief,’’ Mr Koutsantonis said.

Terramin in August said it had started legal proceedings challenging the Minister’s ­decision, and also a proposal put to the Governor to “reserve” the area that contains the gold deposit, which would prevent any mining in the future.

“Terramin has filed legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of South Australia seeking judicial review of the refusal of the applications and the making of the recommendation to the Governor,’’ the company said.

“Terramin contends, amongst other things, that each decision should be set aside on the basis that the decisions misapprehended the statutory power in the Mining Act 1971 (SA), were legally unreasonable, did not take into ­account relevant considerations, took into account an irrelevant consideration, and that Terramin was not accorded procedural fairness.’’

The Minister’s office told The Australian that Terramin's case was dismissed on Monday morning.

The company’s shares are currently in a trading halt pending an update to be released to the company’s shareholders.

The Australian has contacted Terramin for comment.

Inverbrackie Creek Catchment Group chairman Jim Franklin-McEvoy, who has been a long-time opponent of the proposed mine, said drought years such as the current one showed how important protecting local water sources was.

“It’s a big relief that common sense and the ruling of the Minister has prevailed,’’ Mr Franklin-McEvoy said.

“People around here are saying their bores aren’t quite as high as they should be with the lack of winter rain and are saying ‘imagine if there was a mine’.

“Anything that affects water locally and for the state is so important. The science that we put forward showed that it was clear that the risk was great, whatever measures they put in place.’’

Originally published as A mining company’s last ditch legal bid to revive its gold mining plans at Bird in Hand has failed