A ruling in the NSW Land and Environment Court means Wendy Bowman's deep held desire to protect her farm from mining will be granted.
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On Friday last week Justice Nicola Paine handed down her ruling on the consent conditions for the Ashton South East Open Cut (SEOC) which she had granted approval for in August this year.
The centre piece of Justice Paine's consent conditions was the requirement of the mine's owners Yancoal to first own Mrs Bowman's Glennies Creek property 'Rosedale' before they could develop the mine.
This condition is something Yancoal are unlikely to meet as Mrs Bowman has vowed since the project was first proposed in 2009 never to sell the 182 hectare farm that fronts Glennies Creek.
Having fought mining development on her family's properties in the district near Singleton since 1980s the court ruling this week was met with sheer relief by Mrs Bowman.
"I felt numb when I heard Justice Paine's ruling," she told the Argus while enjoying a cup of tea on her picturesque irrigation and grazing property which after 100mm of rain this month was carrying a good body of lush pastures.
Not happy to rest until she has the farm formally protected for future generations Mrs Bowman, is planning in the New Year, to contact the former Governor General Michael Jeffery and discuss having the farm form part of his Soils for Life project.
"The fight to save this farm is about our need as a society to protect valuable farm lands and our vital water ways from complete destruction by the mining industry," she said.
"This highly productive farm was to become a huge salt lake once the coal had been extracted - that would have been a tragedy for all Australians."
The final conditions through the merits appeal against the mine will be handed down at the end of January.
“I thank Justice Paine for her wise and measured judgement that has considered the position of farmers with large mining operations planned across their land," Mrs Bowman said.
The Ashton SEOC was initially rejected by the Planing and Assessment Commission (PAC) before a second PAC review approved the mine in 2012.
At that stage third party merits based appeals against PAC rulings could still be made in the NSW Land and Environment Court.
In this case the merits appeal against the approval of the Ashton SEOC was made by the community group, Hunter Environment Lobby.
As these appeals are no longer available this Land and Environment Court case was the last opportunity available in NSW for third parties to lodge a merits appeal against a coal mining project.
“Hunter Environment Lobby is very pleased with the outcome of the court decision that recognizes the rights of citizens and landholders. This decision has saved the future of the Camberwell community and many others in the region,” said Jan Davis, president of Hunter Environment Lobby.
“The opportunity to negotiate final conditions of approval is very important and not given to the community through the current planning system. While mine proponents can comment on draft conditions the community and affected landholders are locked out of the process.
“The rights afforded in a merits appeal through the Land and Environment Court are very important in our democracy and need to be reinstated.”