A forum was held this week at CQUniversity Mackay to explore the relationship between mining developments and the impacts on communities.

The Mining and Community Research Forum focused on whether the current methods of assessment, planning and governance will be appropriate for the next 20 years.

John Rolfe and John Merritt (Anglo American Metallurgical Coal) at the forum this week. Photo compliments of The Daily Mercury. About 20 speakers from universities, government and industry were involved in the forum, and outlined a range of case study examples from Queensland and Western Australia.

A key focus of the forum was to discuss and review some of the advances in impact assessment and planning, and the potential for further improvements over time.

Key note speakers at the forum included:

• Professor John Rolfe talking about pressures in the Bowen Basin mining communities and the potential impacts of the Resource Super Profits Tax
• Professor Fiona McKensie (Curtin University) talking about the way mining pressures are assessed in Western Australia
• Dr Damien Guico (University of Technology) talking about the future scenarios for the use of technology in mining
• Queensland Government representatives on improvements in assessing and monitoring social impacts