PLANS for low-level gold mining at Llanelly has been scuttled by Loddon Shire Council.
Councillors last week backed the recommendation of planning officer Darcy Jackson to refuse a planning permit for mining on a property in Alexander Lane.
Mr Jackson said two objections had been received to the prospecting application.
One objector said that while permission to access the property had been earlier granted, that had since been withdrawn.
“We do not want this activity on our land,” according to a redacted objection in council documents.
A second objection said the paddock had been GPS mapped and prospecting would inconvenience existing farming operations.
Mr Jackson said: “The zone’s purpose emphasises retention of productive agricultural land, protection of primary production, and ensuring non-agricultural uses do not adversely affect farming operations.”
Applicants Harvey Lee and Jared Fleiner  had wanted to bulldoze the paddock and detect mining for alluvial gold with progressive rehabilitation. 
Their planning permit application said mining will occur in pits on average 25 metres wide, 50 metres long and 15 metres deep using a dozer, grader and excavator. 
“Topsoil and leaf litter is removed and stockpiled in small piles away from the area of mining. Mining of the pit involves dozing overburden in thin layers and stockpiling adjacent to the pit separate from the topsoil,” their application said.
Land use, compromised efficiency of the existing agricultural use. and biosecurity risks were among reasons listed by council in refusing the planning permit.