Save Enchanted Hill

Pip Muller

Enchanted Hill in Royalla stands,
Covered in Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands.
This type of land we should preserve, 
This hill beside Melrose Nature Reserve.

On Enchanted Hill the view you see,
Is The Australian Capital Territory.
Richardson, Calwell and Theodore,
Chisholm, Tralee and Gilmore.

Where swift parrot fly and Wedge-tail soar,
Then return to nest as they did before.
On Enchanted Hill their nests so fine,
But a business wants to build a mine.

This Hill where Traditional Owners walked,
Sharing their heritage through song and talk.
Scaring and ringing trees to show the way,
And leaving signs that can be seen today.

They lived in harmony with the land,
Leaving their footprints in the sand.
They drank from the creeks that still flow,
To Tuggeranong Valley down below.

Next the settlers came along the trail,
Building homes and soon the rail.
Royalla grew with rural blocks,
Children, horses, cherries and livestock.

Enchanted Hill supporting native bird and man,
And now some business has hatched a plan.
To fell the trees and scrape back the soil,
To dig the rock: The environment to spoil.

On the hill to make concrete and asphalt stink,
But what will become of the legless skink?
Blasting, grinding, the dust blows by,
To settle on gardens and homes nearby.

These rocks they carry silica dust,
But to build our roads they claim a must.
But what of the other quarries four,
They say not enough we need much more! 

To me it’s greed at the cost of many,
Our insurance even now it’s a pretty penny.
The risk of bushfire and accident when blasting,
While children and horse owners are out riding.

I heard each day when a mine powers up,
Home electrical equipment becomes corrupt.
The brownouts and the power cuts,
The noise, the dust, the moving trucks.

When trucks cross the rail line then turn right,
How will we see them in fog or at night?
Over two lanes on the Monaro trucks to go,
The traffic north and south will have to slow.

Our Tin Man stands his green eyes cry,
On the Monaro many more trucks go by.
Slowing Tuggeranong’s city bound route,
Five hundred trucks to join the daily commute.

Michalago, Bredbo and Cooma too,
This mine will impact all of you.
Googong if they don’t take the Monaro Highway,
Then the trucks will drive Old Cooma ‘byway’!

Those that chose to live near here,
This mine will cost them very dear.
We will no longer see the stars at night,
Because of the mines bright shining lights.

Draft your objection from the heart,
Don’t wait just quickly make a start.
Load your objection to NSW Planning webpage,
Under Monaro Rock Quarry: maintain the rage!

Write it now and tell them NO, this is a folly,
Then write council and all the pollies!
Don’t let them clear, blast, dig or drill.
Stop the trucks, Save Enchanted Hill. 

So please will you help and stand up proud,
We need you to join and shout aloud.
No Quarry, no industrial estate in Royalla,
Save Enchanted Hill - You have the power!