WHAT will be the economic driver for the Singleton community post mining?
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That was the question posed at a forum as part of the Hunter Coal Festival where speakers and the audience alike came up with a myriad of suggestions.
Among the ideas raised were turning open cut mine final voids into concert venues, extreme motorbike tracks or a theme park, developing an aquaculture industry or the contentious use of voids as rubbish dumps.
But, whatever is going to happen planning should start immediately because to do otherwise risks turning the region into an economic wasteland.
It’s not as though Singleton hasn’t been through various economic transformations in the past, with one of the speakers Don Gray describing the Singleton he knew in the 1950s.
“At that time there were 350 dairy farms in the district and we had a population of about 8000,” he said.
“Now perhaps there are 25 dairy farms left and the population is about 25,000.
“We have to find something to keep our economy going once mining leaves the district over the next couple of decades because I can’t really see agriculture taking up the slack.”
Another speaker Gary Ellem spoke passionately about the need to develop a regional plan because currently the processes in place will lead to regional economic collapse.
He urged everyone in the community to work collaboratively and develop a plan to sustain the economic future of the region.
“Forget about balanced planning; what we need to see and see immediately is collaborative planning – where all the industries, communities, governments and researchers work together to achieve the best outcomes,” he said.
The NSW Department of Planning is working on a Hunter Economic Growth Strategy and Singleton Council general manager Lindy Hyam said her council would be looking at it closely as well as having recently released its own draft economic development strategy.
Dr Ellem, a conjoint senior lecturer at Newcastle University’s School of Environment and Life Science, said one of the drivers for innovation would be sensible and smart regulation.
“Regulations can solve problems and lead to innovation for example the mining industry through safety rules has achieved greater levels not only in the area of mine safety but also lifted productivity,” he said.
While the industry is planning for open mines in the Upper Hunter to cease production in the next 15-20 years market conditions may have a greater impact on this outcome.
Dr Ellem said China was the biggest driver in coal demand is pushing ahead with plans to become energy self-sufficient.
“Should this happen then we won’t see another coal boom but if China fails in this drive then we may see coal prices rise again,” he said.
When asked what his opinion of China’s likely success, he said given their history one would expect them to become self-sufficient.
Ms Hyam said she would like to see more research funds come from the mining industry to develop rehabilitation methods and also uses for the former mine sites.
To date no open cut mine in the Upper Hunter has relinquished its mining lease said Matthew Newton, acting assistant director environmental standards , NSW Trade and Investment.
“When a mine ceases to operate we have a set of criteria they must meet before they can relinquish their lease; mostly this revolves around ensuring the site is safe, geotechnically stable and rehabilitation has meet their consent conditions,” he said.