“If every other iconic wine growing region in Australia is now protected by special legislation to prevent unsympathetic development within its boundaries why does the Hunter region remain unprotected?” asked Hunter Valley Protection Alliance spokesperson Graeme Gibson.

The Hunter  has been producing grapes for 175 years, it is one of this  country’s most popular tourist destinations attracting 2.1 million visitors each year yet it remains vulnerable to all sorts of development proposals.

Wine growing regions in other states and overseas are now covered by special legislation that  ensures any future developments were in keeping with the existing vineyard region.

However, the Hunter is yet to receive any similar protection.

Instead, the state government will consider the Hunter under its new Strategic Regional Land Use Policy.

Hunter Valley Vineyards Assoc-iation president Andrew Margan said this development in September  2012 was at least official recognition of the Hunter wine region but the process remained untested.

Until a development comes before the Gateway process within this new policy the protection if any for the region remains unknown.

“We absolutely want the region protected like the other wine regions in Australia it is after all the oldest grape producing region in the country and the most visited region in the state,” he said.

“But I doubt the state government has the guts to do anything whether it be protecting this region or promoting tourism – they have been sitting on their strategic review into tourism since May last year and we are still awaiting a response.”

Mr Gibson whole heartily agreed with those sentiments particularly so after  he was horrified to see drilling rigs operating on the Broke district vineyard Pooles Rock which is owned by the gas company AGL.

Mr Gibson wants the state government to follow the example of the others states and protect the Hunter region.

“On the one hand we have government ministers lauding the Hunter  Valley and the tourism industry and on the other hand we have the government working with AGL and other coal seam methane miners, “ Mr Gibson said.

“The wine industry and wine tourism industry would be decimated if the vineyard area is turned into gasfields.”

CONFIDENCE IN PROCESS

THE Strategic Regional Land Use Policy, released last September,  maps the Hunter and identifies  viticulture land in the region as a critical industry cluster.

“Any major resource proposals on this land will have to go through the Gateway process, where it will be scrutinised by an independent scientific committee before being allowed to proceed further,” a state government department spokesperson told The Singleton Argus.

This will involve  assessment of the likely impacts of a proposal on agriculture.

NSW Minerals Council’s chief executive officer Stephen Galilee said mining, wine production and tourism had successfully operated side-by-side in the Hunter Valley for many decades and each industry made an important contribution to the social fabric of the region and the local economy.  He said it was important to remember that mining in the Hunter region used around one per cent of land, while agriculture used around 46 per cent of land.

“Prohibiting mining across broad areas of the Hunter Valley would lock up a large portion of the state’s strategically important coal reserves, forgoing significant economic benefits when in many cases these resources can be extracted in a responsible manner that minimises impacts on neighbouring land users,” Mr Galilee said.

HUNTER IGNORED

•  One of the first vineyard region’s to be protected was the Napa Valley in California where legislation was passed in 1968 to protect agricultural land.

•  Western Australia’s Margaret River wine growing region gained legislative protection in 2012.

•  Barossa and McLaren Vale in South Australia gained similar protection in January this year.

This only leaves the Hunter without strict legislative protection from urban, industrial and mining development.