Singleton Argus journalist, Elise Pfeiffer, continues to uncover how the unrestrained expansion of the open-cut coal mining industry has impacted the once thriving, vibrant and historic villages of the Hunter Valley. The advancement of mining operations has undoubtedly brought significant benefits to our region through employment, economic success, the development of regional centres and prosperity for the industry. However, perhaps the cost of this prosperity was never fully considered, especially for the villages and residents who have been all but engulfed as a result. These wastelands produce what University of Newcastle Senior lecturer in Anthropology, Dr Hedda Askland describes as ‘voids’, communities left hanging in limbo – unable to leave, yet undesirable to stay.
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For seven generations, the Roser family have called the historic village of Bulga home. Nestled in the foothills of Wollemi National Park, the vibrant village provided a wealth of opportunity.
Bulga was an agricultural hub and a food bowl for stone fruits and grapes. When the queen arrived in Sydney many years ago, it was the Roser family’s grapes that hit her table – grapes that were worthy of royalty. Bulga was a peaceful, thriving and happy place to live.
Though today, Bulga tells a different story.
According to 21-year-old Vahid Roser, the vitality of the village has been stilted by the continual expansion of open-cut coal mining. Being a seventh generation Bulga local, Vahid has a strong connection to the local community but he fears that in the not so distant future his home may no longer be here.
“Bulga is the gateway to the Hunter Valley and I think that has been lost,” Vahid says.
“Hardly anyone knows what or where Bulga is anymore, even though it was one of the first villages settled in the Hunter Valley.
“The township of Bulga - I don’t think it will be here anymore if the mines come any closer because it won’t be safe to live here, or enjoyable to live here.”
Mining operations have been expanding over the past few decades, edging closer to the village and it’s community. The coal industry has undoubtedly provided local townships like Singleton with enormous wealth and economic success, and as a young adult Vahid understands the appeal of working in the mines and the wider publics support for it. But he often questions at what price does the industry come at and at whose expense.
“I can definitely see the money in mining, and that as a draw card for the wider community but for me money isn’t everything,” he says.
“I’ve grown up here in Bulga and we’ve been off the grid for 18 years, so mining and money aren’t really of interest to me. It’s more about bringing positive connections back into communities and enjoying life.”
And Vahid is working on doing just that, having started a music festival called ‘Bulga Beats’ a few years back and now setting his sights on another business venture.
“We had a few main visions when we were creating [Bulga Beats] and one was to get people to Bulga to see it for what it is and what it could be, and the other reason was just to bring back the community spirit.
“I actually started my own events management company last year too. We will be running community workshops and small-scale music events in hopefully a year or so to come.”
This is Vahid’s way of bringing the place back to life while providing young people with opportunities to experience the Bulga he believes may soon be forgotten.
“One of the sides of the company will hopefully be a bushwalking tour which will bring more people to see the national park and enjoy it for its beauty,” Vahid said.
“If we want people to visit the area for tourism, its things like this - entertainment and activities - that we will need. And if we want young people to come and live here, it will be other industries that will have to provide like farming or sustainable energy.”
In the current climate, Vahid believes mining isn’t a sustainable source of employment which has only exacerbated the issues surrounding mining expansions and created stress for the miners who want to have secure jobs.
“Mining does provide employment, though I think there is a lot of up playing the percentage of just how many jobs,” he says.
“At the moment, it isn’t a very sustainable working environment. Miners don’t know whether they are going to keep their jobs and that puts a lot of stress on those workers to force the mine expansion to go ahead so they can hold their jobs.”
So how can both mining and the Hunter’s historic villages co-exist and is there a way to move forward?
I think it can be achieved if we are only mining for our needs, and not selling mining companies or mines to overseas companies who are taking super profits out
- Vahid
“I think it can be achieved if we are only mining for our needs, and not selling mining companies or mines to overseas companies who are taking super profits out,” Vahid says.
“There is already another 20 years’ worth of coal in the current pits and I don’t think there is any need to expand.”
Whether this is the case or not, it’s clear that for the Hunters most predominant industry and our most historic communities to live in harmony, better planning, regulation and collaboration needs to be implemented. Perhaps the region cannot simply have one or the other, but rather needs diversification to ensure that the Valley continues to be a thriving, safe and pleasant place to live and work.
