HVO North Open Cut Coal Continuation Project

The local mines create great employment opportunity and financial support to our entire economy. Many young people complete apprenticeships through the mines and have excellent skills to allow employment in many fields. If we lose the mines, we lose economy, families breakdown due to loss of employment and towns lose business due to lack of population and finance.

I support the project due to the amount of jobs this site creates, the amount of small & large businesses in the local area that service the HVO site. As well as the ongoing charity, community grants & community work that HVO does. Support for infrastructure from the royalties & taxes that HVO pay to assist with paying for schools, hospitals, roads, etc. The new bridge across mosses crossing will assist the locals with better access during large rain events.

I am an Employee of HVO, now in my 10th year at the operation.
I and my family rely on the income from my employment there.
We live in Hunterview, we do the vast majority of our shopping, sporting and exercise at local facilities with the Singleton community.

HVO, like other mines in the Hunter Valley, are valuable in that they offer high quality, well paying employment at reasonable distances to vibrant diverse communities. This combined with reasonable total work hour weeks. HVO is unique in that it allows me to have an integral part in my young families lives on a daily basis with a 25 minute commute to Singleton. I am able to do school drop offs and/or pickups, attend events during the day and return to work. It is extremely important to be able to be there for children particularly, but any family member. When at an event and you see them looking through the crowd for mum and dad, then you do a big wave to draw attention, and their face lights up when they see you. As they get older they try to contain this somewhat, to look cool in front of friends I am sure, but they still cannot "keep the lid on" completely!

My extended family lives in Sydney region, Singleton is within a reasonable driving distance for a day trip. Often my family will come out to visit and attend functions / events with the children. Seeing Aunty/Uncle, Nanny or Papa (grandparents) in the crowd is a wonderful thing.

Many of my colleagues and employees live in the surrounding regions up and down the New England. They each have their own lives and places in their communities. They earn a respectable income, personally I am earning more than was possible for me in the past when employed in other industries. This allows me to choose to support local businesses, by local I include Australian producers. Best examples I can think of are when we buy groceries, we do not have to buy the generic milk. We have made a conscious decision to buy either Dairy Farmers, Devondale, Norco or any of the other boutique brands which are local to the area. Cheese we buy from the Hunter Belle Co, the caramelised onion and jalapeno are my favourites. This is not limited to milk and cheese. Steering myself back on track, we use local services for healthcare, recreation, hair dressing, car maintenance, local trades for home renovations and maintenance. We often go for lunch to the Pokolbin, Scone, Muswellbrook and Maitland regions on weekends, the food is amazing.

That all said, if HVO were to not be approved, there is a very significant chance I would be forced to leave the region when current approval expires. There are other mines in the area, but as a professional I can say no two mines are exactly alike. The features of HVO align with my own goals and skill set, this is not necessarily a preferable transfer to another local mine. My family would leave with me because I cannot fathom not being part of their daily lives. I believe it is essential to see them daily, face to face, when they are happy, when they are sad, and everything in between. To do things with them, teach them and be taught by them, I am able to be there for them, they can rely on me, not just Mum. When I say I am going to be somewhere, I do not have far to travel, so there is little to stand in the way of a fulfilled promise. I am not certain where in Australia I could find this combination of work and community proximity, one because I have not looked, two because I have not needed to look.

I am happy to provide further detail if required.

As a voting, taxpaying member of the Singleton community I ask that you approve the North and South continuation project please.

Thank you for your time today.

I am supporting the project as it is where I work and it helps me support my family, but it also helps the wider community with flow on work from boiler makers, welders, to contractors and labours. it should be allowed to continue operating as it is not a new mine opening up.

This will keep jobs in the Hunter valley and help keep the local community running

I support Hvo to Continue to mine until 2050 as it supports many family’s in the hunter region as well as my own. I am a 4th generation miner at hvo and I would like to see my career out here and my children also have the opportunity’s I have been given from mining.
Being realistic we are decades from renewables being able to power whole cities and country’s this is another strong reason we should continue to mine at hvo

I fully support the project 100%

- Long term opportunity for the greater community
- job security/ stability for their future
- opportunity for young families to build a future in this rising cost of living
- Opportunity for contractors/ trainees a voice/ opportunity to transition into permanent positions
- HunterValley businesses and suppliers rely on mines for business and employment
- Mining provides royalties and benefits to areas including healthcare and many areas benefitting the community

HVO provides immense value to our part of the Hunter Valley, through employment, supporting local businesses, local community services, and also the state, through royalties..
Mining has enabled me to provide a very good life for my family, and countless other families in the Valley throughout the 40 years I've been involved with it..
At a time when it seems other companies and organisations have all but buried coal mining, without any type of plan for the future, HVO is highly committed to remaining a valued contributor to our community....

The continuation program is not only important for those benefiting from job opportunities in the midst of keeping up with the rising cost of living, but for communities as a collective, providing resources for businesses and most significantly providing security for families for the present and most importantly the future.

The continuation program is an opportunity for not only workers but the greater community to continually thrive through the vast business/ employment opportunities it ready provides to the Hunter region. This developing network will continue to help our families thrive through this expensive economy and living costs. Affordability due to working opportunities. 1000’s of families are relying on this renewal to continue raising their families, continue the culture or mining in the area and sustain the importance of the operation and its impact on our greater community. For those making a shift into the mining industry partaking in Traineeships/ Apprenticeship programs this is a stepping stone for a big change to many and to some change their life as it has for mine and my young family. Covid 19 changed our lives and impacted all workforces and put a scare for many families in industries including hospitality, health and construction. The opportunities that mining offers a chance to regain stability for years to come and ensure our economy remains afloat

This project is not only a continuation, it is a security for current employees, families and external contractors/ businesses outside of the company to take part in.

But this is our future for our families! Future for our children and opportunity for stability and job security.
HunterValley deserves this approval and so do our families

I strongly support this project to go ahead!

This project continuation will provide an abundance of job, local revenue and security for the Hunter Valley, not to mention workers like myself that travel and stay in the Hunter for work, providing a solid future for many families for years to come.

I am currently employed by HVO. My family and myself needs this proposal to go through as it would see me through to retirement and would also give my kids a chance at employment in the mining industry after they completed doing a university degree.
Besides that, if the proposal does not get through you are looking at almost 900 permanent employees from around the Hunter losing jobs which would affect around three to four times that amount of people after the amount of contractors that are onsite at HVO everyday. Not to mention the ongoing affect it would have not only with the immediate family of the workers there but the extended families and local communities that rely on them for day to day support.

HVO south is an essential part of the mining community that provides jobs and money to industry. I believe that they have the capabilities to successfully mine essential coal while still be courteous to the environment, I support mining and HVO does it the right way and as a result would love to see the mine continue.

Im a local Aboriginal man who grew up in housing commission with nothing, i then went on to live in subsidies housing myself relying on centrelink and a little bit of casual work to support my family. I gained employment with HVO and since then i have been able to provide a positve future for my young family and break the cycle. My employment with HVO has enabled me to buy a house, car provide clothing, food, medical and dental needs for my children pay for them to go on school excursions attend sporting events. Everything i own or paying off (house) has come from working at HVO. If HVO was to cease operations it would have a detrimental effect on myself my family and everyone that is employed there and the surrounding towns.

This mine supports so many families directly and indirectly. Without HVO the valley will suffer. I fully support this continuation project

Allowing this mine to continue until 2050 ensures I have jobs for thousands, directly and indirectly across the hunter valley region. The company also supports many local charities and businesses, if they were to close this support would end

The coal mining sector is the industrial backbone that supports a huge proportion of the working families of the Hunter Valley; my family included.
There is a huge market for coal overseas and utilising the world's best mining practices, HVO produces some of the highest grade coal on Earth. If we're going to burn it (and no matter what environmental path the government is going to force on us, the major polluters are still going to need coal for many decades to come), it may as be the best and least polluting coal...as I like to call it:'free range, organic coal'
HVO provides our entire family income which we invest straight back into the local community through schools, sporting associations, hospitality sector, supermarkets, fuel stations, car dealerships, veterinarians, local small businesses, local artisan markets, art galleries etc, etc.
It's an industry that I wish to work in until my retirement. The thought of having to uproot our family from their high school and chase mining work interstate horrifies me.
It's a big thumbs up from me and my family.

HVO's continuation project will allow me to have continued work for the majority of my working life as well as providing a lot of work for employees and contracting companies across the Hunter.

Without HVO, the Hunter Valley's economy will drop off, with lots of smaller contracting companies having no work for staff and full time employees left without a job to support their family.

I have been working as a contractor at HVO for just over a year. I am a mining engineer by profession and have worked in the mining industry for nearly 30 years. My submission is certainly not going to be unique, as the livelihood of most employees, contractors, and local businesses would be devastated if the HVO continuation project is not approved.

HVO is a great place to work. I am 48 years old, have a wife and 2 children who depend on me for our livelihood. My wife's name is Leena. She is a Town Planner at Lake Macquarie Council. My daughter's name is Neha. She is in Year 12 at Merewether High School and would like to become a doctor. My son's name is Ajay. He is in Year 11, also at Merewether High School, and he is thinking about becoming a dentist. Why am I mentioning personal details about my family - to remind those that read these submissions that there are real people who will be affected by the outcome of this decision.