Ridiculously irresponsible is how Bulga resident Wayne Riley describes the Department of Planning's continued approvals for expanded open cut coal mines near Singleton.
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“Singleton is surrounded, in fact it’s being enveloped by these open cut mines, which means you can never escape the dust,” said Mr Riley.
“Every time a westerly wind blows 25,000 residents in Singleton are covered in dust and diesel particulates and because the existing mines are expanding that air pollution is getting worse and travelling further down the valley. So it’s time the Department, our Council and State Government said no to these mining companies and stopped any new or expanded open cuts in the Hunter.”
Mr Riley is not your traditional greenie having worked in the coal industry all his life but what he sees as the destruction of a very special place has prompted him to take a stand.
His father worked underground and so did he down the pits in the Burragorang Valley south of Sydney before moving to Bulga 27 years ago.
At that time he bought a 87 hectare farm that backs onto the Wollemi National Park. Nearly three decades ago the property was in his words a beautiful place in fact the Bulga district promised much and had the potential to become a popular tourist destination.
Sadly he says that has all but gone now as mines, in particular Mount Thorley Warkworth,(MTW) have been allowed to expand almost to Bulga’s doorstep.
Mr Riley argues the authorities should have insisted that only underground mines to allowed to be developed so close to populated areas.
“Where I came from in the Burragorang Valley underground mines have operated for 80 years and their footprint is so much smaller than these open cut mines,” he said.
“Look at the underground operations in the Hunter their impacts are no where as hazardous to our health as these huge open cut mines. Enough is enough our health is more important than these mines.”
He is angry that the Department of Planning can’t see what they are doing to our district and there is no political will to protect our environment and the community’s health from either the state government or Singleton Council.
His story is like so many Bulga residents because he actually trusted the government to uphold the 2003 Deed of Agreement signed by then Labor State Government and the owners of Warkworth Mount Thorley mine Rio Tinto to protect in perpetuity Saddle Ridge from open cut mining.
Today Saddle Ridge is being mined – the deed of agreement shredded and this is taking place despite the resident’s group the Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association succeeding first in the Land and Environment Court in then in Supreme Court and the Appeal Court to prevent this happening.
“With the Deed we all felt safe and I decided to subdivide our property creating four new residential blocks which before the MTW expansion approval in 2015 were valued at $180,000 each. They were going to be our retirement nest egg. Following the approval buyers ran away and we have sold one for $120,000,” he said.
“Not only have we lost around $200,000 on the blocks but our own property, like everyone in Bulga, has lost value and lets be honest here for the majority of people the most important asset is your home and through no fault of ours we are losing money on our property as the mines get bigger.”
The relentless dust landing on his home has resulted in Mr Riley requesting the new owners of MTW Yancoal to install air conditioning but he was informed by them his home was outside the mitigation zone.
“Mitigation zones are computer generated lines on a map but the dust does not stick to these lines as there is no physical barriers so the dust is here every minute of every day, it is simply shocking for us,” he said.
What Mr Riley wants to see happen is that the government insists residents like him to be compensated for the loss in value of their homes and properties due to the impacts from the mines.
And should people wish to sell up and leave due to the impacts they should receive reasonable offers for their properties.
His third demand is no new or expanded open cut mines saying the current attitude by the authorities by approving these developments shows an absolute arrogance towards the wellbeing of the community.