Dendrobium Mine Extension Project

Regarding the proposed Dendrobium Mine Extension Project.
I oppose the continuation and expansion of this coal mine on a number of grounds-
A- This project underlies significant protected bushland along the Illawarra escarpment. Comprising upland wetlands and endangered species including one of the few remaining Koala colonies in NSW. Mining below and adjacent to such vulnerable bushland is undeniably a major threat to the integrity and future wellbeing of its ecosystems and those species that depend on it for survival.
B- The Security of Sydney and Illawarra's water supply is vital to the future survival of the major populations that depend on a reliable, plentiful and clean water from this catchment. Additional approvals for large scale coal mining under and adjoining the catchment pose known dangers to creeks, rivers, and storage dams from subsidence and cracking as well as posing ongoing threats from water pollution from these mines.
C- There are significant numbers of sites of aboriginal significance affected by proposed mining likely to be damaged or destroyed by subsidence from increased mining activity.
D- Climate Change poses one of the greatest risks to the future of mankind. We need to be reducing not expanding existing coal mining operations and transitioning to clean energy. Governments need to take a leadership role and protect our future by facilitating such a transition rather than seeking to protect the coal industry.
Jim Clark.

Dear Minister Roberts,

Re: Opposition to the Dendrobium Mine Expansion

I am writing, as an Environmental Scientist and concerned Illawarra resident, to oppose the Dendrobium Mine Expansion for the following reasons:

- Water catchment: The mine is in the water catchment and inevitable subsidence could damage the watercourses and swamps that feed into the catchment- the risk of pollution (sediment/ metals) and water loss is unacceptable for the environment and human health.
- Proximity to Aboriginal sites: There are 31 nearby cultural significant sites. These have been identified in the EIS and by the local Indigenous community. The mining will affect the songlines and storylines of the area and further destruction and abuse of the land by colonial influences.
- Natural ecosystems and animals: The mine will definitely impact water systems and swamps, as well as land due to outfalls and run off to the ocean. Further, Koalas were once abundant in the Illawarra and we should be encouraging their return, not destroying / contaminating more of their habitat. There are so many examples in the Illawarra of disused mines that have never been rehabilitated and the community and ecosystems have to put up with those effects forever.
- Coal-fired power is outdated: Australia needs to phase out coal-fired power and other fossil fuels embrace renewable energy (not gas-fired). We need to be moving towards zero carbon ways of creating power and energy. Opening / expanding mines is a step backwards and away from the
crucial targets for carbon reduction.
- States significance: This development is not state significant – Bluescope has other options for coal and is moving towards zero-carbon steel manufacture anyway. Its very suspicious that this mine, for the first time ever, a mine has been named as State Significant.

I would ask that you listen to the residents and workers of the Illawarra and our objections to the Dendrobium proposal.

Sincerely,
Alexander

I strongly oppose the revised proposal for the expansion of Dendrobium Mine in Sydney and Wollongong’s water catchment. Here are my concerns:
This is old technology, there is great risk to damage to Sydney and Wollongong’s drinking water catchment, the expansion is not consistent with current land use of the area as a water catchment, there is a high likelihood of damage to Aboriginal Cultural Heritage, impact on koalas and their habitat, impact on aquatic systems, upland swamps, increase in bushfire risk, impact on sustainable jobs, impact of coal wash, mine outflow and brine dumping on creeks, waterways, harbours and oceans, and lastly the CLIMATE. Please see the attached doc.

I am writing in opposition to The Dendrobium Mine Extension Project (SSI-33143123).
Australia has a water insecurity crisis in times of drought, which is expected to get worse as climate change progresses.
It is an accepted scientific fact that fossil fuel burning is the main cause of climate change.
It makes no sense for government to approve the extension of a coal mine that will go well beyond the time of Australia's transition away from fossil fuels to renewables.
It makes no sense for government to approve the extension of a coal mine that puts our water security at high risk. We cannot afford to make bottled water consumption the norm, as do many 'developed' cities across the world (I am thinking of the USA) where water security has NOT been prioritised. We cannot afford to put aquatic and coastal ecosystems at risk, because our survival depends on the health of the ecosystems that support us.
Please do not approve this project. Instead, make long term sustainability a government priority. Thank you.

As a resident of Mount Kembla with a particular interest in our landscape and wildlife, I believe that this expansion should be denied.
I have heard members of the mine say that they are responsible for maintaining the natural environment that they wish to use but I have watched countless weeds, many of environmental concern under the biodiversity act, thrive and spread through areas that I imagine should be cared for by the mine. I have also spent countless hours walking through the bush and creeks below the mine and have gathered a fairly extensive pile of photos of "rubbish" I would be fairly confident to say has come directly from the mine. I have little confidence that any effort has been made to ensure natural areas are being "cared" for that the mine should be responsible for, nor does this give me any confidence that an expansion further into the catchment area will be treated any differently.

I can't believe that this submission is actually necessary. Given all the evidence of rock cracking above the voids left in the wake of long wall coal mining, a mining company believes it to be safe and warranted to apply from our level headed government a suitable mining license to continue this malpractice beneath the catchment of the Woronora water supply. It beggars belief that a mining company can mine beneath creeks and hanging swamps and the said creeks and hanging swamps are fractured and drained denying the creeks and hanging swamps of the necessary water that sustains native plants and native wildlife. This proposal must not go ahead risking the ecology of the surface biota. Given the current climate emergency we can ill afford to destroy our environment and risk our water supply for the sake of mining more fossil fuel. Our emerging next generation deserve better caretakership from we adults in 2022.
Yours sincerely, matthew allison

We don’t have enough detailed information of the extent of impact of mining on the primary function and purpose of the special areas which is to supply drinking water into Greater Sydney and the Illawarra.
In particular there is
a) the risk of significant “subsidence” or sinking of the ground’s surface resulting from the longwall mine design. This would degrade 25 watercourses and swamps
b) potentially significant surface water losses into the groundwater system, damaging ecological processes and contribute to increased concentrations of metals in drinking water
c) the impact of past and existing longwall mining in the catchment, including the (as yet unquantified) loss of surface water flows from some sections of rivers and streams
d) uncertainty around managing mine water inflow (surface waters permanently diverted underground) after mine closure.

Although there are some benefits to the expansion, the risks that exist mean that it would be irresponsible to proceed with this project.

To Hon Anthony Roberts MP,

This submission OBJECTS to the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project State Significant Infrastructure Application.

In this submission I address the several aspects of the Environmental Impact Assessment, which either fail to serve the public interest or fail to meet the Planning Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEAR).

Summary
I am a resident of Wollongong LGA.

It is shocking to most Wollongong and Sydney residents that mining takes place in our public water catchment. Most people are concerned when they learn that there are current plans to expand the Dendrobium mine for a further 20 years. They are even more shocked when they learn than the Government’s Independent Planning Commission rejected an earlier version of this proposal, and that WaterNSW opposes the current proposal. The known negative impacts on the water catchment, as well as the likely risks and possible worst-case risks to the sustainability of our water catchment are completely unacceptable. Nothing could be more important than protecting our water catchment and not committing our region to fossil fuel expansion projects.

Heritage (Point 5)
1. Not a single Aboriginal Registered Party spoke expressed support for this proposal.
2. Aboriginal Registered Parties emphasised their concerns about the integrity of the ecosystem, habitat and not having access to the area to practice spiritual and cultural connection.
3. The ongoing highly restricted access to the area for local Traditional Owners is unacceptable. A multinational mining company’s access should not be prioritised.

Water (Point 6)
1. Irreparable damage to the water capturing ecosystems of the Metropolitan Special Areas. There are no rehabilitation methods for subsidence and dewatering of upland swamps. To manage the sustainability of our water catchment it is not enough to set Area 5 back a few hundred metres from the Avon Reservoir. As South32 has stated in the EIS that this proposal will also impact the Cataract and Nepean Reservoirs. However, the fundamental point is that water is not simply captured in dams when it rains, it is drawn into the dams by a healthy system of upland swamps and small tributaries. Damage these, and we will see enduring and irreparable impacts on our water system.
2. Inability to offset the damage to a highly significant public resource – the water catchment that 5 million NSW residents rely on.
3. At least 8 billion megalitres of total water lost annually to the Dendrobium mine in the current expansion plan.
4. Direct impacts on the Avon Reservoir, which is the only source of water for 310,000 Illawarra residents and businesses. During the drought the Avon Reservoir recorded historic lows, strongly signalling that everything should be done to preserve the current ecosystem not undermine it.
5. Ongoing losses to ground and surface water for at least 60 years according to South32’s mine closure estimates (Appendix Q). In South32’s initial application the company estimated ongoing losses for 100 years. Even at these likely underestimated figures, it is extremely alarming given recent experience of drought.
6. Known risks of water contamination associated with tailings and sediment overflow. The community has already recently experienced South32’s failure to guarantee unpolluted local creeks and tributaries. Brandy & Water Creek has had EPA verified pollution incidents at least twice in recent years. This proposal, if approved, will lead to an increase in metals in the water courses and reservoirs. South32 has shown itself not fit and proper to manage contamination risks in the pasts, and should not be entrusted with our public water catchment.
7. Flow on impacts to the Greater Sydney Water system. Reduced utility of the Metropolitan Special Area water catchment in times when other water catchments, such as Warragamba are contaminated or in low supply.

Bushfire hazard (Point 11)
1. The impacts of the above points on water also relate to bushfire risk. Dewatering the Metropolitan Special Areas will reduce the Illawarra region’s bushfire resilience.
2. When the 2019-2020 bushfires were at their peak, local dams were at historic lows. The nearby township of Balmoral in the Southern Highlands (where there is nearby mining at Tahmoor) ran out of water to fight the fires.

Social impacts (Point 15)
1. The limited scope of the social impact assessment submitted in the EIS is truly outstanding. The consultant engaged has barely surveyed the local community at all, and has failed to account for the health and wellbeing impacts of this proposal.
2. Reduced drought and bushfire resilience, increases in heat resulting from climate change (which this mine will irrevocably contribute to) have not been included as social impacts. These oversights are hugely problematic.

Economic impacts (Point 16)
1. The economic justification for this project is based on flawed and limited logic. Ignoring the growing impacts of climate change is no longer acceptable.
2. South32 acknowledges that only (at maximum) 25% of Dendrobium coal will reach the local steelworks. In recent years, Bluescope has only used approx. 13% of coal from Dendrobium (Bluescope annual report, 2018). The argument that the Steelworks depends on Dendrobium coal is clearly not based in fact.
3. The community understands that Bluescope is investing in renewable alternative methods. Furthermore, the CEO of Bluescope has never said publicly that the future of the Steelworks depends on this coal source – a fact backed by the obvious truth that they obtain metallurgical coal from elsewhere already.
4. It should be emphasised that this expansion only promised 50 new jobs. This is a tiny dip in the ocean for Wollongong.
5. The quality of jobs in local mining is deteriorating and mining is not a growth sector in our economy. Indicative of this trend, recent hires at Wollongong Coal’s Russell Vale mine were advertised at $25 per hour. The replacement of secure ongoing jobs with short, casual contracts is pronounced in the sector.
6. As the Economic Assessment Ernst & Young have prepared for this EIS, they admit that there is no evidence that miners will experience disutility as they transition to different employment. No miner that I know in the community expects long-lasting employment in mining. They are already training and looking for other jobs.

Conclusion
I implore the Minister to consider the rationale by which the Independent Planning Commission rejected the first version of this proposal. While the current proposal is a smaller area, all of the projected impacts remain to a scale that is still unacceptable. The costs of this mine are too great, and the benefits too small or are achievable by other means.

Sincerely,
Concerned local resident

I object to the submission on multiple grounds. Firstly the expansion is a direct threat to Sydney's and Wollongong's (where I live) water catchment. The expansion is not consistent with current land use of the area as a water catchment and it poses a direct threat to both water quality and availability. The expansion is also a threat to Aboriginal Cultural Heritage. There are significant Aboriginal Heritage sites within the area which will potentially be impacted. Similarly there may be significant impacts to the koala population which has recently been placed on the threatened species list. Upland swamps which are also on the list of endangered ecological communities also risk drying out if cracks are formed and water drains away. The potential dewatering of the ecosystem will also increase the bushfire risk to communities on the edge of the catchment and be an additional threat to our water quality should there be a fire. My primary concern is the expansion would more than triple current direct (scope 1) greenhouse gas emissions. The world's reality is that we must drastically cut emissions. We need to be decreasing coal mining not expanding it. The expansion is therefore a threat not only to the immediate local environment but to the generations to come due to climate change impacts.

I object to mining in water catchment areas. This mine will jeapodise our water security.

Dendrobium longwall coal mine in the Illawarra being rejected by the Independent Planning Commission and NSW Water So WHY does , the state government wants this disastrous project to go through?

Longwall mining damages reservoirs, cracks rock beds and increases the presence of heavy metals in drinking water.
The expansion will also damage local biodiversity and threatened ecological communities.
It will cause irreversible damage to 58 identified Aboriginal sites.

This mine will jeapodise our water security for future generations and damage a sensitive ecosystem.

We wish to strongly object to the current Dendrobium Mine expansion proposal on the following grounds:
1) Impact to Greater Sydney and Illawarra water catchment - the facts that the catchment is already affected by the current mine operations, in terms of leakage and contamination, and this expansion will exacerbate that suggests that the proposal should be knocked back. Not only will the impacts occur up to 2041, but also decades beyond the life of the mine. The mining will take place in a Special Area where people aren't even allowed to walk. Preservation of the water catchment that provides safe drinking water to a significant proportion to the country's population is surely more important than the profits of a private company. The Dendrobium Mine, despite their claim, is not crucial to the operation of Bluescope Steel given that Bluescope is actively securing (or has secured already) other sources of coal and is looking into transitioning away from coal altogether. As the 'green steel' technology develops (which should occur at an accelerating rate) Bluescope will both want and need to transition, and they are already being supported in that by the Federal and NSW Governments. Why would the NSW Government then approve a coal mine expansion?
2) Climate change - while 'no new coal and gas' is the mantra of protesters, it does hold a lot of common sense. Coal mining expansion and subsequent methane emissions need to be avoided where they can. In the case of Dendrobium, they can be avoided as the mine expansion is not critical as explained in the first point. The NSW Government cannot be serious about combating climate change if it is approving non-critical coal mine expansions at the same time.
3) Impact on ecosystems and loss of biodiversity - the range of ecosystems this project could impact are diverse and the following is not a complete list:
- dewatering of upland swamps classified as Endangered Ecological Communities
- contamination of aquatic ecosystems
- known koala colonies are at risk from land clearing for mine infrastructure and there is no direct koala management plan in Dendrobium's proposal

The above points briefly describe some of the negative impacts of this proposal and, other than private company profits and potential trickle-down into the local community, I cannot see any positive impacts. The jobs justification is flimsy as a transition away from coal can create more jobs, and more jobs could be created using a less damaging approach ('bord and pillar' rather than longwall).

Given that WaterNSW is opposed to this proposal (on the basis of impact to water catchment) and that the Independent Planning Commission rejected the previous proposal (although scaled back, this proposal still has the same negative impact concerns), in addition to stating our objection to the current proposal we also request that NSW Minister for Planning Anthony Roberts exercise his power under S. 2.9 (1) (c) of the EP&A Act to task the NSW IPC with reviewing independent reports being commissioned by NSW DPE (including security of coal supply for Bluescope).

Regards,
Katrina Marshall and Kim Marshall
Kembla Heights

I am a current employee of the mine which has allowed me to provide for my young family. It has enabled me to work closer to home and be able to spend more time with my young children by not having to travel long distances to work. Many of my friends and family are reliant on the coal industry and the port Kembla steel works to which the mine provides coal to. I support the project and IMC's continued support in the local community

I object to the proposed mine expansion for two primary reasons:

1. The risk of uncontrollable damage to our drinking water supply is too great. Access to water is a fundamental human right. Subsidence from the mine expansion is likely to cause substantial and uncontrollable water loss from the catchment into the foreseeable future--certainly beyond our lifetimes. We have a responsibility to future generations to avoid such damage, especially given the inevitable future stresses on our water system caused by local population expansion and climate change. The long-term damage to our community's water catchment far outweighs the short-term benefits of the proposed expansion, which would be taken by a private company and a small subset of the community. The NSW Government has a responsibility to our community to protect our essential water infrastructure.

2. Australia needs to stop taking the piss, and start to lead the world on climate change action. We are so well equipped to be climate leaders, with a strong economy, high standard of living, abundant renewable energy resources, etc.; how can we expect developing countries to take serious action if we don't ourselves? The proposed mine expansion will not only produce 'metallurgical coal'. Some coal from this mine will be burnt in Australia to produce electricity, and yet more will be exported for unknown purposes. We should not be opening up new coal mining areas--we should be expediting the closure of our fossil fuel power plants, and using existing coal leases to cover our needs during the transition. To expand a coal mines in Australia, in 2022, would send a damaging signal to the world and will be remembered as part of a systemic failure to address climate change in an effective manner--a NSW Government that approves such an expansion will be remembered as key players in that failure.

Please don't destroy our drinking water

This project will irreversibly degrade the water catchment, increase the likelihood of fires, negatively impact flora and fauna in the areas above and surrounding the proposed expansion, and the carbon emissions from this project are an unacceptable risk to the future of the climate. I object to this project.

I am writing to object to South 32’s proposed Dendrobium Mine Extension Project. In February 2021, the NSW IPC found that an earlier version of the proposed expansion “risks long-term and irreversible damage to Greater Sydney and the Illawarra’s drinking water catchment.”
I oppose the proposed expansion for the following reasons:
• Drinking Water Catchment: Dendrobium Mine lies within the Special Areas of the Greater Sydney Water catchment. Mining induced subsidence has already been observed, and further damage to watercourses, swamps and aquifers is expected to cause the additional loss of millions of litres of water each day. Sydney is the only city in the world that allows longwall mining in a publicly owned water catchment.
• State Significant Infrastructure: the Dendrobium Mine expansion was declared State Significant Infrastructure, as an essential source of coal for BlueScope Steelworks in Port Kembla. However, the NSW and federal governments have pledged to transitioning BlueScope Steelworks to low or zero carbon steel, meaning that this long-term expansion will be of short-term use for BlueScope Steel.
• Aboriginal Cultural Heritage: 31 Aboriginal Heritage sites have been identified in or close to Area 5 of the proposal. These sites are indicative of a broader area of cultural significance. The expansion further risks the storylines on Dharawal and Yuin Country, and will cause further damage Aboriginal cultural heritage in the Illawarra.
• Biodiversity: the proposed mine expansion will impact Koala habitat and swamps listed as endangered ecological communities (EEC). Undermining of the water catchment risks ‘dewatering’ of swamps and waterways, which will devastate the ecosystem within the catchment.
• Emissions and climate: the expansion and proposed coal extraction will more than triple current direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas emissions. Extracting more coal risks the NSW Government’s Net Zero Plan, which aims to halve emissions by 2030.
• Bushfire risk: water loss within the catchment and the subsequent dewatering of ecosystems within the catchment will increase bushfire risk. This will compound climate change related bushfire risks that we are already experiencing. The proposed area for undermining sits alongside highly populated residential areas of Wollongong and is one of the few areas that remained unburnt after the 2019/2020 bushfire season.
While Australia and the world shift to renewable energy and clean steel, the expansion of the Dendrobium Mine will leave an economic, environmental, and social burden on the Greater Sydney region. The effects of the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project will be irreversible, and risk the future of the Wollongong community, the environment, and the climate. I urge you to oppose this proposal to expand the Dendrobium Mine under our water catchment.

I strongly object to the proposed extension of the Dendrobium underground coal mine due to its severe and irreversible impacts on critical drinking water supplies, threatened and endangered ecosystems, flora and fauna and sites of high cultural significance. I refer you to the document attached.
Objection to the South32 proposed extension of the Dendrobium underground coal mine - Area 5 within the Metropolitan Water Catchment SSI-33143123
I strongly object to the proposed extension of the Dendrobium underground coal mine Area 5 within the Metropolitan Water Catchment as the proposal has serious and irreversible impacts on the environment, its flora and fauna including many threatened species, and causes irreparable impact to critical water catchments and sites of high cultural significance. I ask that all underground coal mining and surface mining of any type be ceased within the Metropolitan Water Catchments in order to protect the current and future drinking water supply of Greater Sydney and Wollongong and protect its unique biodiversity.
I am opposed to this development for the following reasons:
1. The NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has already rejected the proposed extension of the Dendrobium mine into Areas 5 & 6 on 5 February 2021. The new proposal does not address the reasons why the original proposal was rejected. Further, the new modifications to the longwall layout do not ‘avoid’ or ‘minimise’ cumulative impacts of the mining on highly sensitive ecosystems such as the upland swamps which are listed Endangered Ecological Communities which support many threatened species of flora and fauna as well as providing fire, drought and climate refuge for many threatened species.
2. Upland swamps are critical in maintaining continuous water flows to downstream creeks and rivers and their dependent biota and are critical to maintaining flows in the catchment. Underground mining will destroy these swamps by landscape subsidence and cracking of bedrock. Scientific evidence shows that longwall mining causes catastrophic changes to these upland swamps and it is a listed threatening process under the Biodiversity Conservation Act.
3. Coastal Upland Swamps are unique ecosystems which cannot be offset. Upland swamps provide habitat for many geographically restricted and endangered species of flora and fauna which comprise upland swamp communities meaning that offsetting cannot be applied.
4. Upland swamps form critical climate refuges, becoming even more important under a warming and drying climate.
5. The continuous progression of mining from East to West in the Dendrobium lease, coupled with the proposed Area 5 mining, will effectively split the Woronora plateau frog populations over time by alteration of the hydrology in a strip from east to west. This cumulative impact will have catastrophic implications for the persistence of the amphibian species in the future; since genetic mixing will be made extremely difficult, and habitat will be reduced.
6. The loss of connectivity across the Woronora Plateau Coastal Upland Swamps is a highly significant issue for many threatened species. The Woronora plateau is a stronghold for three threatened frogs and the threatened Koala. The threatened Ground Parrot and Long-nosed Potoroo are also recorded in these catchments and rely on swamp habitats for their survival. Recent genetic studies have shown that the Littlejohn’s Tree Frog is now split into two species in the Illawarra; with Litoria littlejohni on the Woronora Plateau split off from the populations in Morton National Park and Budderoo National Park which are now identified as Litoria watsoni. This information is pertinent; since the risk of extinction of Litoria littlejohni is heightened due to the mining impacts on the plateau. Upland swamp habitats provide critical climate refugia.
7. With reduced water availability and altered hydrology across the catchment, all Koala habitat within sufficient proximity to the mining to cause changed hydrology could be indirectly impacted. This will have far reaching consequences since the Woronora Plateau and Picton area is identified in the NSW Koala Strategy as one of the ‘Strongholds’ for the persistence of that species into the future since it is significant climate refugia and has a good population.
8. Other unique fauna such as the threatened Broad-headed Snake and Rock Warbler (Origma) as well as several other snakes and geckos are dependent on sandstone rock overhangs and rock slabs on exposed rock pavements which could collapse due to landscape subsidence and cracking. These species are unique and restricted to the Sydney Basin sandstones.
9. Other unique fauna such as the Platypus and Eastern Water Rat are dependent on healthy streams and will be lost from the environment as bedrock cracks and streams disappear or re-appear polluted on re-emergence further downstream.
10. The collapse of sandstone overhangs and rock pavements will have serious irreversible impacts on highly significant Aboriginal art work and engravings.

This proposed development will not “avoid or minimise, to the greatest extent practicable”, impacts on significant water resources, threatened species and biodiversity, sites of high cultural significance or greenhouse gas emissions. The continuation of underground mining in this area and within the Metropolitan Water Catchments will lead to the loss of valuable drinking water resources, likely contribute to the potential extinction of several threatened species and swamp dependent species and cause significant and irreversible damage to sites of high cultural significance as well as contribute to increased atmospheric CO2, and consequent climate change. A full economic assessment of the cost of the environmental impacts of this project have not been provided.

I ask the government halt all mining developments within the Metropolitan Water Catchments to protect our critical drinking water resources and unique and irreplaceable biodiversity and cultural heritage and protect our future climate.

Yours sincerely,
Debbie Andrew
14/06/2022

I support the Dendrobium Mine Extension project as a critical contributor to Australia's sovereign steel making and manufacturing industry, particularly in the Illawarra Region.
I believe that the changes made to the original project have addressed the key concerns raised by the IPC and strike a suitable balance between the need to continue to support the local steel making industry with this critical ingredient and the potential impacts of mining in the catchment. South32 (and BHP beforehand) have shown themselves to be responsible operators in the region and in the catchment specifically over several decades.
The time to phase out coal for steel making will come, but until the technology is technically and commercially viable metallurgical coal will be required. As long as that need exists and the impacts of mining are responsibly managed I believe we should support local supply wherever possible.

This mine will a damage local biodiversity and threatened ecological communities, including koalas and as many as 18 other endangered species. It will cause irreversible damage to 58 identified Aboriginal cultural artefacts. The mine is also right in Sydney’s water catchment. The Independent Planning Commission initially refused permission for the extension because it would damage millions of people's drinking water: longwall mining creates cracks in reservoirs, increasing the introduction of heavy metals into the water supply. This plan should never go ahead. It has already been rejected once, but political pressure by mining interests has resulted in the new application being declared State Significant Infrastructure, meaning it will bypass the IPC's scrutiny, and the Planning Minister will solely responsible for the final decision. This is the first time ever this has ever happened for a coal mine application in NSW.
Before any decision is made, the Minister should definitely seek advice from the Independent Planning Commission and other recognised experts, as well as seeking an updated, ecologically accurate Environmental Impact Statement. At the very least, local koala populations and endangered species should be independently surveyed.

To even consider jeopardising our water supply by mining further under the catchment area is, in my mind utterly irresponsible. The dams may be full now but sure enough in the years ahead drought will again strike and our water will become a precious commodity. It’s not worth the risk.

As a resident of Cordeaux Rd, and the nearest resident to the proposed car park, I am quite concerned with the increased traffic, noise and disruption that will ensue. Cordeaux Rd was not designed for such traffic volume, in particular heavy vehicles which will no doubt increase if the expansion goes ahead. Years ago there was an incident when a truck lost control on Slow’s Corner and ploughed into the bush near the school entrance. Luckily no one was hurt at the time but the risk of it happening again is very real.
The proposed car park will have a direct impact on myself and my family as we are a mere 50 meters away, not to mention the loss of bushland and wildlife habitat. If and when the expansion goes ahead I would like South32 to pursue other options re car parking and traffic volume.
Steve Mulrooney