See more on our Campaigns, Submissions and Events webpages.
The Federal Electorate of Macquarie basically consists of the state electorates of Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury. If you live in either the Blue Mountains or Hawkesbury local government areas, then you are in the Electorate of Macquarie.
Macquarie is the most marginal federal electorate in Australia.
Our Federal Election website includes –
Here's our 2022 Federal Election website
Business will include receipt of reports, adoption of annual accounts, determination of structure of the Management Committee, election of President, Management Committee members and other office holders, and appointment of auditor.
We will also honour Tara Cameron who has been nominated for life membership. Tara has been either our president or senior vice-president since 2008.
Life Membership is conferred upon members who have made a meritorious contribution to the work of the Society and to the conservation cause.
Members will be invited to vote on this nomination.
Visitors are very welcome!
Please register - but it's free
Here are -
[To facilitate nominations, nominees and their supporters can email the Meetings Secretary - hhull001@bigpond.net.au - and need not complete and send a form.]
Please contact Tara Cameron, Madi Maclean or Susan Crick (here are their contact details) if you wish to discuss any of the positions or are considering nominating.
Following the AGM
The Blue Mountains
Exploring landscapes, shaped by the underlying rocks, uplifts and erosion
Learn how the landscapes of the Blue Mountains have developed.
Their talk will introduce the main underlying principles of the formation of the mountains starting with a summary of the main geological sequence and then explaining how the weathering and erosion of these rocks, in response to three main uplift events, has given us the present landscape.
Their work combines stunning photographs, amazing maps based on airborne LiDAR data. This gives a refreshing wholistic view on how the Blue Mountains have formed.
Here's more information on Peter and Ian's presentation
This important physical and cultural landscape is under threat.
The Pilliga is the biggest temperate forest in NSW and one of the most important areas for biodiversity in Eastern Australia.
The Pilliga Scrub, as it is often referred to, is an iconic Australian landscape of over 5,000 km2 of woodland and is abundant in native wildlife including many threatened animals.
Here's a two minute video preview of the Pilliga Project.
This event is free - but bookings are essential
Hosted by the Blue Mountains Conservation Society.
A Great Grose Weed Walk activity is your chance to join the many other caring and hardworking Blue Mountains Bushcare volunteers in their long term efforts to stop weeds invading the Grose Valley Wilderness Area.
Here's a brochure - which includes activities.
You'll find more information on the Great Grose Weed Walk webpage.
The future of this beautiful conservation area containing two spectacular mesas at Airly and Genowlan is at risk of further damage. It was supposed to be protected from subsidence when a mining extension was approved there in 2016.
What happens here could also influence protection levels for any new mining under the recently announced Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area.
You can read more about the latest damage in the Guardian article here.
Centennial Coal representatives were reported to be meeting government regulators last week. The Society has written to the Minister for Planning calling for the mining company to be prosecuted and all steps taken to ensure any further damage does not occur. However, we are concerned that the law may not be strong enough.
You can help by writing to the Minister for Planning asking for every effort to be taken to ensure the "spectacular geodiversity with majestic cliffs and rock formations" in Mugii Murum-ban are protected from now on and any unlawful damage is penalised. This is the link to send a message to the NSW Minister for Planning.
The Society has also written to the Minister for Environment as National Parks and Wildlife Service own Mugii Murum-ban SCA.
If the dam wall is raised, 4,700 hectares of World Heritage listed National Parks and 1,800 hectares of declared Wilderness Areas will be forever scarred from sedimentation, erosion and invasion of exotic plants.
Raising Warragamba Dam will inundate 65 kilometres of Blue Mountain's wild rivers.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released on 29 September 2021.
Submissions closed on Sunday 19 December.
Here's more information about the NSW Government's proposal to raise the dam wall
Is land clearing going on near you? How can you check that it is being done legally?
Want to know how to write a submission opposing or supporting a Development Application?
Look no further - the Society's Planning & Development Resource Kit may help you.
The decision transfers into the national park estate the 31,500 hectare Newnes, Ben Bullen and Wolgan state forests, an area of spectacular pagoda landscapes, cliffs, waterfalls, woodlands and flowering swamps.
The Society acknowledges this as Aboriginal land, Wiradjuri country. and pays respects to the traditional custodians of this land.
This has been a long journey going back to Myles Dunphy’s vision for the Greater Blue Mountains. The name, “Gardens of Stone”, was first used by renowned environmentalist, Haydn Washington.
The Society has been involved in the campaign for over twenty years. The Gardens of Stone Alliance, made up of founding members Colong Foundation for Wilderness, Lithgow Environment Group and Blue Mountains Conservation Society, has been the organising force of the campaign since 2006.
Here's the NSW Government's media release.
We would like to recognise some key Society members: Brian Marshall, Ian Brown, Karen McLaughlin, Peter Green, Janine Kitson, Yuri Bolotin, Joel Robinson, Thomas Ebersoll, Tara Cameron and Madi Maclean.
And our Gardens of Stone Alliance partners: Keith Muir of Colong Foundation; Julie Favell, Chris Jonkers and Richard Stiles from Lithgow Environment Group.
We acknowledge the long-term support of National Parks Association and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, now an Alliance member.
We would like to thank the parliamentarians who drove this proposal:
In 2012 the Planning Assessment Commission for the Coalpac open cut mine recognised that: “the highest and best use of the area is for conservation purposes”. Nearly ten years later we’ve got there!
The next step is the establishment of the new SCA which brings with it professional park management of the area and consultation on the proposals.
The Society looks forward to the establishment of what will be an exciting new conservation area for the Greater Blue Mountains centred on Lithgow.
The Society will continue its work protecting and defending our natural environment with your support.
The company’s temporary licence to access the site will also be revoked and it will be required to vacate the site within 28 days.
The site will remain open to emergency services.
Here's the NSW Government's announcement.
Here's our Katoomba Airfield Lease webpages.
The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements and the NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry have concluded. Here are their reports (all documents are around 18MB each) -
And here's the Society's submission to the NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry.
Our Bushfires webpage (updated in May 2021) contains a detailed analysis of the 2019-20 bushfires and their impact on the Greater Blue Mountains - including maps, an assessment of areas burnt and the loss of wildlife. Information on recovery and What You Can Do is there, plus some articles on firefighting.
The 2020 National Bushfire and Climate Summit brought together hundreds of participants from across the country and the world to share their experiences, and to formulate recommendations to address the worsening risk of devastating bushfires fuelled by climate change.
The Australian Bushfire and Climate Plan is the culmination of that effort.
The Australian Bushfire and Climate Plan provides a broad plan and practical ideas for governments, fire and land management agencies and communities to help us mitigate and adapt to worsening fire conditions.
The plan’s 165 recommendations include many measures that can be implemented right now, to ensure communities are better protected.
The experts agree: We must tackle climate change and worsening extreme weather by urgently phasing out fossil fuels.
The Blue Mountains Conservation Society participated in this summit and endorses this plan.
An ad for the plan appeared in The Australian on 1st August.
Government and business action is crucial in addressing climate change, but our personal actions also make a difference.
The Society has prepared a Climate Action Now Flyer that details the changes you can make to -
We also encourage you to Raise Your Voice On Climate Change by -
We acknowledge Katrina Shields, Zero Emissions Byron, who inspired production of this flyer.