A THOROUGHBRED breeder scouting for a new stud location for Qatari Sheik Fahad Al-Thani has ruled out the Hunter Valley because of the “huge scale of destruction” from open cut mining.
British breeder David Redvers, charged with establishing a new stud for the Sheik in the Southern Hemisphere, was turned off after he flying over the valley’s open cut coal landscape last week, he told the ABC.
“Firstly, I was surprised by just how green it was,” he said.
“That turned to shock and sadness at seeing just how huge the scale of destruction is there of what is prime country.”
Mr Redvers said he will look to Victoria or New Zealand instead.
His decision supports the claims made by the Hunter’s established studs, who say coexistence with the expansion plans of the coal industry is incompatible.