At the hearing, NSW Land and Environment Court judge Nicola Pain will be taking final submissions from the parties involved in the challenge to the mine’s  approval – the applicant Hunter Environment  Lobby (HEL) and the mine proponents Ashton Coal and the NSW Minister for Planning.

Earlier this month, Justice Pain approved the project subject to conditions rejecting the appeal by HEL.

The judge is expected to set the conditions at the October hearing and thereby grant consent for the project to proceed.

HEL was represented in their appeal by Environment Defenders Office NSW, principal solicitor, Sue Higginson.

Ms Higginson said there was a large volume of conditions to go through at the hearing as all three parties involved in the case – HEL, Ashton Coal and the Minister for Planning will each be making submissions.

Among the submissions from HEL will be the setting of environmental performances and issues surrounding land acquisition and compensation, Ms Higginson said.

“The land acquisition includes land owned by Alistair Bowman where two dairies currently operate,” she said.

“There will also be submissions in respect to blasting noise and air quality.”

Another affected landholder and strong opponent to the mine’s development is Wendy Bowman, who has vowed never to sell her “Rosedale” farm to Ashton Coal.

Her refusal poses a problem for Ashton Coal as a considerable amount of the coal they want to extract lies under the 470 acres property that fronts Glennies Creek.

The Bowman family have operated farms in the district for six generations and because properties can no longer be acquired without the owner’s consent, Mrs Bowman’s stance to protect her farm leaves the mine’s future under a cloud.

Mrs Bowman has long been associated with opposition to open cut mine development especially its impacts on agricultural land, water quality and air quality impacts.

“Why should our viable farming sector be put under threat from such a tiny mine with an operational life of just seven years?” she said.

“If something goes awry and Glennies Creek is affected because people have to understand this mine involves coal extract adjacent to this waterway 

then we could put in jeopardy all the agricultural production from Maison Dieu south in the Hunter Valley.

“And this includes the Pokolbin area – how many jobs does that put at risk”

Mrs Bowman is now keen to turn her property into a conservation area or even biobank the land; something that is now possible under changes to the Biodiversity Offset Policy to come into effect on October 1.

“We have so many native animals living here on the farm – quolls, echidnas, squirrel gliders, possums and goannas,” she said.

“Our farm is a refuge between all the mines – it is one of the few places left where they can survive and we still have native vegetation on the property that needs protection so these animals can survive.

“The Minister for Planning wants farmers to biobank - well and good, start here at Rosedale.”