THE Bulga and Milbrodale communities feel betrayed by this week’s approval of the $600million Warkworth open-cut coalmine expansion.
Residents who spoke to The Argus said the state government assessment appeared to be “a done deal” and planning assessment commission appraisal was just “public window dressing”.
Despite this, residents are not only determined to fight on, they have an underlying confidence of success.
On the other hand, a spokesman for the development company Graham Witherspoon of Rio Tinto, said: “This project has been subject to a rigorous two and a half year assessment, taking into account both its impacts and significant benefits.
“We recognise that members of the community have ongoing concerns and we will continue to work with them to minimise our impacts as much as possible.”
Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association spokesman John Krey said: “We’ve been told we don’t have a chance against a multinational coal company and the state government, but will give it our best shot.
“We feel a Land and Environment Court appeal will be successful because the seriousness of the issues we raised has been acknowledged yet not acted on.
“As we see it, the planning assessment commission’s findings were not supported by evidence, so even if we don’t stop the mine we’re hopeful of saving certain things and gaining better conditions.”
The planning commission approved the project on Monday, saying its benefits outweighed impacts.
The decision will extend the life of the Mount Thorley Warkworth pit from 2012 to 2033 and allow the operation to extract up to 28million tonnes of coal a year to be railed for export through the port of Newcastle.
In addition to the Land and Environment Court appeal, several other hurdles need to be overcome for the project to proceed.
Community legal action is being considered against Planning Minister Brad Hazzard and Rio Tinto over a 2003 deed of agreement which was signed but not acted on to protect Warkworth Sands Woodland and a hill named Saddle Ridge.
Mr Krey said his group would write to Mr Hazzard next week, for a third time, asking him to honour the deed. They would consider class legal action if he set the deed aside.
Also, Singleton Council remains opposed to the expansion, having unanimously refused to sanction the mining of a major thoroughfare through the middle of the development site, Wallaby Scrub Road, and rejecting a $11million “voluntary planning agreement”.
The mine expansion approval includes a requirement for council and coal company officials to negotiate a new voluntary agreement within six months or an arbitrator will be appointed to help settle the matter.
Mr Krey said the bias in favour of coalmining was clearly shown in the planning assessment commission’s final statement justifying approval.
In part, it said: “With the current price of coal this outcome (approval) is almost inevitable when the overall economic benefits of the mines are balanced against the local community impacts.
“It appears that it is only if there are wider negative implications from the mining proposal that refusal becomes a possibility.
“If this is to change then NSW will need to develop a clear policy position that provides further guidance to decision-makers as to how social impacts on rural villages are to be balanced in the approval process for coalmines.”
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