Bylong Coal Mine

The predicted long-term impacts on prime agricultural land and water systems in the Bylong Valley are unacceptable and will not be mitigated through proposed offsets and rehabilitation. The renowned Tarwyn Park natural sequence farming processes will be destroyed.

A significant area of prime agricultural land will be destroyed: the mine footprint will disturb 2,875 hectares (ha) of land including 440 ha of Bioregional Significant Agricultural Land (BSAL), 260 ha being destroyed in open cut, plus 700 ha of mapped Critical Equine Industry Cluster land. The proposal to replace BSAL at another location is untested and high risk.

Impacts on groundwater and surface water will be significant. The highly connected alluvial aquifer system within the stressed Bylong River catchment will have predicted peak losses of up to 295 million litres per year (ML/yr). Loss of base flows to the Bylong River is predicted to be 918 ML/yr. The mine proposes to use up to 1,942 ML/yr which is over 75% of the annual rainfall recharge. The river system is over allocated and local farmers will lose important water supply.

The mine disturbance area has very high biodiversity values that will not be mitigated through the proposed offset arrangements. Nationally endangered species recorded in the area include the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, New Holland Mouse, Regent Honeyeater and Spotted-tailed Quoll. Three entirely new plant species were recorded. A significant area of critically endangered Grassy Box Gum Woodland will be destroyed along with habitat for 17 threatened birds and 7 threatened plants.

The area has Aboriginal cultural heritage significance: 239 sites were recorded in the study area with 25 regarded as being of high local or regional significance (including an ochre quarry, grinding grooves and rock shelters); 144 sites have been identified at risk from mine impacts with 102 within the open cut area.

Important European heritage, including the Catholic Church Cemetery, Upper Bylong Public School and a number of historic homesteads and farm buildings will be destroyed in the open-cut. The social impacts on the Bylong community have already been devastating.

Dear Sir/ Madam

I am 73 and in all my life have I never seen such a disgraceful act of selling out our Country to the Overseas Multi Nationals as I have over the last decade.
I am absolutely disgusted with the Government and the nameless Bureaucrats who make these decisions without knowing anything about the communities they want to destroy by selling out to Overseas Companies who up and leave a landscape destroyed for ever.

I travel from Maitland to Rylstone about 5 or 6 times to visit my sister and the drive through the Bylong Valley never seems to amaze me to all its beauty, but prior to the Sandy Hollow turn off all there is slag piles from mines thru the Hunter Valley, nothing to look at , no beauty nothing. Yet this NSW Planning Department want to destroy this lovely Valley with approval of these mines they will destroy the Bylong Valley for ever, but these faceless men who sit in Sydney would not have a clue to this wanton destruction to so many lives who have farmed this lovely Valley for centuries. The thought of digging up graves of our pioneers is next to lowest thing I can think of.

I am sorry but my respect for the NSW Liberal Government has gone, not that the Labor are any better, but you are in Government, and have the say and stop this desegregation of our Agriculture land.

This fight is not just for the Bylong Valley but the Liverpool Plains also who have the same fight.

I am not a Greenie by any means but an all round Aussie, who has travelled this lovely country and seen it in all its glory, but Governments are selling out the real Australia.

I have lived in a great time, but I feel sorry for the future Generations to come as the Governments of the day are stuffing it up.

Men of the Planning Commission think before your name is attached to this list of people who stuff this Country up.

Remember food and water are our life blood, don't destroy it.

KARMA

Regards
Kevin

I request that this application is rejected in its entirety.
There should be no coal mines allowed on or anywhere near the prime agricultural land, such as Bylong Valley.
Furthermore, Bylong Valley is on the edge of the Wollemi National Park, and potential effects on the park (water table and air contamination, visual pollution) are unacceptable. I have visited the valley many times in the past and walked in the adjacent national park, so can say that it is sheer madness to even consider an open cut or underground coal mine in that location. The area has also rich Aboriginal habitation history, and the proposed mine is going to destroy over a hundred of identified sites (over 40% of the total sites in the valley). If it were allowed to happen, it would simply be criminal.

My heart just breaks at the thought of what is about to happen. Ugly, disgusting coal mines disfiguring our beautiful country all for short term gain for a foreign company . I have seen and will never forget the site of the open cut mines in the Hunter. The people running this country should be ashamed of themselves. We need innovation and thought of a sustainable future. Food bowls not dust bowls.
WE DON'T NEED COAL for energy! WE have SUN, WIND AND THE SEA.

Mental health/ well being issues.
The first time I met a representative from Cockatoo Coal, I immediately thought these guys not only have done a geology/mining degree, they also do psychology. The average rural folk tell the truth, believe they are hearing the truth and a handshake deal is all that is needed. What a game changer when a mining company rolls into town.
To see the social fabric ripped apart, friends not friends anymore, closure of our local school, population decline, a famous Bylong charity event fold from lack of numbers to run the event,because they now own 78% of the exploration licence. I bet they smile and rub their hands together, thinking the plan is working, divide and conquer, in next to no time everyone we need will fold and stuff the others that are left behind. All this and they haven't got a mining licence yet. All this worry, stress, anxiety for the last 5 years and it was only on the 14th October this year that the community got to voice an opinion to the planning dept without the miners present. What a total lack of disregard for the community by the NSW govt.
you hear the same scenario all over, every mining company treats the local inhabitants exactly the same, disrespect, disregard, very disappointing.
No wonder people go to extreme measures to get their point across and will continue to do so while the shoddy treatment of hard working honest rural people by mining companies and govt departments continues.
You can run out the slogans RU OK and beyond blue etc, just a bandaid, tick box measure, no one cares, no one is asking. An epidemic will be created if these issues are not addressed, I kid you not.

Why would the state and federal govt let Kepco build a new greenfield mine in the Bylong Valley which will significantly impact the following.
Prime Agricultural land, BSAL plus critical equine cluster land.
Almost 2,000 million litres of water per year in a valley which is already over allocated with irrigation water.
Threatened bird, mammal and plant species.
Important aboriginal and European heritage.
Noise and dust pollution on a pristine valley.
Possible negative impacts on the natural population of the Wollemi Pine, discovered close by.
Social impacts.
The list goes on, why not let these first time miners practice on an already up and running project, no new mine in Bylong!

I don't live in the Bylong but visit it regularly and come from a long line farmers and graziers. Destroying this food producing land is a despicable thing to do and ironical that Asia wants our clean food so why destroy the land that produces it? Quasi rehabilitation is a joke; why destroy it in the first place? And who supervises the rehabilitation? Many mines around the country have just been left when production ceases. You can't replace water tables and put top soils back where they were or bring back the dead animals to a non-existent habitat. Crazy on so many levels.

I wholeheartedly object to the proposal by KEPCO to mine the Bylong Valley for coal. Governments have the attitude of rip it out and sell it off as quickly as possible and be damned to the long-term consequences.
The Bylong valley is and area of prime agricultural land and of great scenic beauty. It is an environmentally diverse region that cannot be adequately protected from the ravages of open cut mining.
The short term gain of mining should be balanced against the long term need for agricultural land Once the coal is mined it is gone forever, however there will always be a need for food. The impact on the community there needs to be considered also. Too often we see Governments prepared to ignore the requirements of a community in their desire for resources mining. The stress and disruption to families in this instance is too high a price to pay.
I therefore appeal to the Minister to refuse to allow this development to go ahead.

Buffer zones or areas of affectation.
My residence is 2kms from the project. I will be affected by noise, dust, increased traffic, new rail loop, blasting and other impacts that I probably don't know about yet.
The modelling done by this company puts my residence ( I am receiver 65)at moderately impacted and therefore maybe I am due some mitigation, yet all my neighbours in the village of Bylong are severely impacted therefore acquisition could be their scenario. How does that work?
Nowhere in the EIS can I find any information on buffer zones. Why is that?
How can this company suggest to me after me having lived here for 17 years that their modelling for all the above impacts will have little or no affect on me or my business.
I am saddened, frustrated and anxious by the complete lack of disregard for my situation by Kepco.

Coal mining cannot be the future of the planet.
The short term gain cannot be allowed to threaten the survival of the planet & it's inhabitants.

With the price of coal so low can the threat to our farms and water supply be justified? Destroying valuable pristine country and risking our irreplaceable artesian water basin is very short-sighted and totally unnecessary in my view.
I strongly object to any proposal to mine in the area indicated.

Please note the following points that form the basis of my submission of objection:

The proposed offsets and rehabilitation will not mitigate the unacceptable predicted long-term impacts on prime agricultural land and water systems in the Bylong Valley. The renowned Tarwyn Park natural sequence farming processes will be destroyed.

A significant area of prime agricultural land will be destroyed: the mine footprint will disturb 2,875 ha of land including 440 ha of Bioregional Significant Agricultural Land (BSAL), 260 ha being destroyed in open cut, plus 700 ha of mapped Critical Equine Industry Cluster land. The proposal to replace BSAL at another location is untested and high risk.

Impacts on groundwater and surface water will be significant. The highly connected alluvial aquifer system within the stressed Bylong River catchment will have predicted peak losses of up to 295 million litres per year (ML/yr). Loss of base flows to the Bylong River is predicted to be 918 ML/yr. The mine proposes to use up to 1,942 ML/yr which is over 75% of the annual rainfall recharge. The river system is over allocated and local farmers will lose important water supply.

The mine disturbance area has very high biodiversity values that will not be mitigated through the proposed offset arrangements. Nationally endangered species recorded in the area include the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, New Holland Mouse, Regent Honeyeater and Spotted-tailed Quoll. Three entirely new plant species were recorded. A significant area of critically endangered Grassy Box Gum Woodland will be destroyed along with habitat for 17 threatened birds and 7 threatened plants.

The area has Aboriginal cultural heritage significance: 239 sites were recorded in the study area with 25 regarded as being of high local or regional significance (including an ochre quarry, grinding grooves and rock shelters); 144 sites have been identified at risk from mine impacts with 102 in the open cut area.

Important European heritage, including the Catholic Church Cemetery, Upper Bylong Public School and a number of historic homesteads and farm buildings will be destroyed in the open cut. The social impacts on the Bylong community have already been devastating.

For these reason, I strongly object to this project.

Yours sincerely,
Fee Mozeley

The Bylong Valley is beautiful, historic, beloved and productive. It must not be destroyed by Kepco's mining project.

The renowned Tarwyn Park natural sequence farming processes will be destroyed; this ought to be an Australian icon and an example of how we can cope with a drying climate.

No matter what Kepco say (and they have shown themselves unreliable) the predicted long-term impacts on prime agricultural land and water systems in the Bylong Valley are unacceptable and most definitely will not be mitigated through the proposed offsets and 'rehabilitation'.

What about balance in land use and respecting our natural resources other than coal? A significant area of prime agricultural land will be destroyed: the mine footprint will disturb 2,875 ha of land including 440 ha of Bioregional Significant Agricultural Land (BSAL), 260 ha being destroyed in open cut, plus 700 ha of mapped Critical Equine Industry Cluster land.
The proposal to replace BSAL at another location is mere words, untested and risky.

Water should be our prime concern, yet the adverse impacts on groundwater and surface water here will be significant. The highly connected alluvial aquifer system within the stressed Bylong River catchment will have predicted peak losses of up to 295 million litres per year (ML/yr). Loss of base flows to the Bylong River is predicted to be 918 ML/yr. The mine proposes to use up to 1,942 ML/yr which is over 75% of the annual rainfall recharge. The river system is already over-allocated and local farmers will lose important water supply.

Offsets are a sick joke, a sham; they still result in loss of biodiversity. The mine disturbance area has very high biodiversity values that will not be mitigated through the proposed offset arrangements.
Nationally endangered species recorded in the area include the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, New Holland Mouse, Regent Honeyeater and Spotted-tailed Quoll. Three entirely new plant species were recorded. A significant area of critically endangered Grassy Box Gum Woodland will be destroyed along with habitat for 17 threatened birds and 7 threatened plants.

Bylong has Aboriginal cultural heritage significance: 239 sites were recorded in the study area with 25 regarded as being of high local or regional significance (including an ochre quarry, grinding grooves and rock shelters); 144 sites have been identified at risk from mine impacts with 102 in the open cut area.

It also has important European heritage, including the Catholic Church Cemetery, Upper Bylong Public School and a number of historic homesteads and farm buildings will be destroyed in the open cut. The social impacts on the Bylong community have already been devastating, fracturing it and decimating it.

I urge you to reject this proposal. The tenement should never have been offered, hastily and misguidedly as it was. The world does not need another coal mine, and most especially not in Bylong.
Shut the gate for good on this project please, and show that commonsense and decency can still prevail in our state.

There is not much agricultural land in Australia and metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne have spread over rich local market locations. The Murray - Darling basin is under enormous pressure, while the worsening drying of south eastern Australia accelerates.

With this as the context the natural sequence farming process will be lost at Tarwyn Park, and prime agricultural land, water and aquifer and species are in the line of fire.

Think what you are doing and what is going on around the world that is putting it under enormous pressure. Life will not end, just recalibrate and people are the most at risk.

The long-term predicted negative impacts on prime agricultural land and water systems in the Bylong Valley are unacceptable . The renowned Tarwyn Park natural sequence farming processes will be destroyed, along with the achievements of this project. The destruction caused will not be mitigated through proposed offsets.

Prime agricultural land will be destroyed, we do not have excess of good land in Australia to be destroying the, 2,875 ha of land including 440 ha of Bioregional Significant Agricultural Land (BSAL), 260 ha being destroyed in open cut, plus 700 ha of mapped Critical Equine Industry Cluster land. The proposal to replace BSAL at another location is untested and high risk.

Impacts on groundwater and surface water will be significant, water is another rare commodity in Australia. The highly connected alluvial aquifer system within the stressed Bylong River catchment will have predicted peak losses of up to 295 million litres per year (ML/yr). Loss of base flows to the Bylong River is predicted to be 918 ML/yr. The mine proposes to use up to 1,942 ML/yr which is over 75% of the annual rainfall recharge. The river system is over allocated and local farmers will lose important water supply.

Nationally endangered species recorded in the area include the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, New Holland Mouse, Regent Honeyeater and Spotted-tailed Quoll. Three entirely new plant species were recorded. A significant area of critically endangered Grassy Box Gum Woodland will be destroyed along with habitat for 17 threatened birds and 7 threatened plants. The mine disturbance area has very high biodiversity values that will not be mitigated through the proposed offset arrangements

Aboriginal cultural heritage significance exists in this area, there are 239 sites with 25 regarded as being of high local or regional significance (including an ochre quarry, grinding grooves and rock shelters); 144 sites have been identified at risk from mine impacts with 102 within the open cut area.

The social impacts on the Bylong community have already been devastating. The new proposal will impact on European heritage, including the Catholic Church Cemetery, Upper Bylong Public School and a number of historic homesteads and farm buildings will be destroyed in the opencut.

Do not allow this company to destroy a huge area of biodiversity ,water supply ,aquefers species for a mere 25 years of producion for a product that is outmoded already and dangerous in our global warming climate..
We will be left with permanent ,expensive damage that we will never be able to repair or recover all the species that we will lose and the visual amentity provided by this unique area of AustraliaThe Australian government needs to learn to care for its people rather than going after the so called profit and causing untold suffering and loss to Australians.

Long term impacts on water resources and valuable agricultural land are unacceptable.The mine will use up to 75% of annual rainfall recharge and that will be lost to farmers and others users in the Bylong River Catchment. There are at leasr four nationally endangered species in the area to be disturbed (Rock Wallaby,New Holland mouse,Regent Honeyeater and Spotted-tailed Quoll). The area has a critical 239 Aboriginal cultural heritage sites of deep importance. These sites must never be disturbed by mining as they will be lost forever. Please reject this application as the resource is onbly useful in the short term as against the heritage and long term use of the water and land resources.

I object to the Bylong Coal project for the following reasons;
It is now well recognised that coal mining is fuelling climate change, so we should not be opening any new coal mines.
We should instead be focussing on development of renewable energy sources which have the potential to provide employment and stimulate economic activity.
This mine should not be considered on prime agricultural land which will be severely impacted and made unproductive in exchange for a short term gain. The proposed offsets will not mitigate the effects of this mine on land and water systems.
Loss of base flows to the already stressed Bylong river will be up to 918 million litres per year. The proposed mine water usage of 1942 ML/yr is over 75% of the annual rainfall recharge. The river is over allocated and local farms will lose water supply.
Biodiversity offsets will not mitigate impacts. Nationally endangered species in the area include Brush tailed rock wallaby, Regent Honeyeater, New holland Mouse, and Spotted tail Quoll. Habitat for 17 threatened birds and 7 threatened plants will be destroyed as well as a significant area of critically endangered Grassy Box Gum Woodland.
three entirely new plant species have been found in the area.
The mine will destroy 102 aboriginal significant sites in the open cut area out of 239 in the study area. 25 of these are regarded as of high significance.
The mine will impact European heritage in the area including the Catholic church cemetery and the Upper Bylong Public School. The social impacts on the Bylong community are already devestating.
This mine should not be allowed to proceed.

I object to another Foreign owned Company planning to destroy thousands and thousands of pristine and prime agricultural land all in the name of profits and under the disguise of creating hundreds of "local" jobs for the localities nearby.

Volume 5 EIS Historic Heritage Impact Assessment 8.4.2
St Stephens Anglican Church is alive and well, it is used for christenings, funerals, weddings and is used by the local community approximately 4/6 times per year. Our local minister Rev Leigh Gardiner has been in the parish for about 4 yrs and is a very passionate advocate and loves coming to Bylong for services. She has never been approached by Kepco for any information about the church.
I am gobsmacked that such a simple fundamental error can occur in such an important document, makes me wonder how many more mistakes there are. Just shows what a bunch of amateurs this company really is.
The Bylong Hall Committee maintains the grounds, pays the power bill and even donates $1200 per year to the Rylstone Parish so that it can keep functioning.
I am led to believe the church is of historical importance, being the only heritage listed building in Bylong.
This church is most definitely in use!