FOR the second time in a month employees at a Hunter Valley open cut coalmine are signing a petition in support of their mine being given planning approval to extend its operating life and therefore ensure their future employment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Following in the footsteps of the 1500 workers and suppliers at Coal & Allied’s Mount Thorley Warkworth coalmine who delivered a petition to the New South Wales Parliament last week, mine workers at Anglo American’s Drayton mine have started their own petition.
The Drayton petition is calling on the state government to progress approvals for the Drayton South open cut mine project – a mine which the employees want approval for so their jobs can continue past the 2017 expiry date of the existing mine.
The 500 current employees at Drayton will, according to the Drayton South’s Environment Assess-ment Statement (EAS) of November 2012, be automatically employed at the new mine which is adjacent to the existing operation and is also owned by Anglo American.
The EAS prepared by Hansen Bailey states Drayton South was previously owned by Mt Arthur South Coal which held planning approval (granted in 1986) for the development and operation of an open cut coal mine.
This approval lapsed in 1991 as no development took place on the site. To allow the continuation of Drayton’s existing mine Anglo American acquired an exploration licence (EL 5460) in 1998 and then began the process of development and gaining approval for the new mine.
Given the fact the Drayton mine only had four years left to run on its current mine approval the company was hoping to gain the go ahead for the new mine which is located 10 kilometres from Jerrys Plains.
The project had already begun the approval process with submissions received to the Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC) when on t May 21 the NSW Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Brad Hazzard wrote to PAC requesting it defer its review of Drayton South.
Public hearings for the project were due to start this month but the Mr Hazzard has stopped that process and appointed an independent mining engineer to review the project according to Anglo American.
The main concerns raised to date about the mine are its impact on two of Australia’s largest thoroughbred studs Coolmore and Darley that are located close to the mine.
These two studs would be covered in the government’s proposed State Environment Planning Policy (SEPP) Strategic Regional Landuse - equine critical industry cluster.
Drayton mine general manager Clarence Robertson said Drayton mine had been in operation for 30 years and Drayton South would offer employees at least another 27 years of employment.
“Many people - and their families - were counting on this,” Mr Robertson said.
