Modification 5 Bloomfield Colliery Continuation Project

This extension allows for continued economic opportunities and the responsible management of energy resources in our community. The company is a good corporate citizen and does much to support the economy of the Hunter Valley as well as the state in revenue and employment

Bloomfield is a local company providing jobs in the hunter valley. As a contractor to the industry my family depends on work in the industry to survive along with my children and their family’s.
I have been involved with Bloomfield for 45 years,
We believe the continuation project will benefit many in the local area and the community!
I support the modification 5 Bloomfield colliery continuation project
P Geary

The Bloomfield Group has been supporting our small family owned and run business for the past 25 years
by extending the life of Their Bloomfield Colliery, this will ensure our small local business continues to grow and also support other local families employed by us.

I would like to lend my support to extend the lifespan of Bloomfield Colliery. Bloomfield has provided stable employment for my husband and fellow workers for many years.

The continuation of the mine will mean additional taxation payable to Governments and Royalties paid to The State contribute to funding NSW hospitals, schools, essential services and infrastructure. Many local community organisations have been supported through The Bloomfield Group Foundation with their investments.

The continuation of the mining project does not involve an increase in production and mining will not occur any closer to residential areas than has previously occurred. It will provide ongoing employment for its employees, contractors and supply companies.

Thank you for the opportunity to offer my support.

I object to the proposed project. It will result in the clearing of 51.69 ha of native vegetation which forms part of the threatened ecological community which is listed as endangered under the BC Act. This habitat is confirmed to be utilised by multiple threatened species. Clearing native vegetation for the purpose of fossil fuel generation is unacceptable in this current climate.

Creates employment they donate to charities though out the hunter valley with a positive outcome for those charities look ahead continued mining of the Bloomfield site is positive plus for businesses and families though out the hunter valley

I object to this project because it will destroy spotted gum/ironbark forest which is an endangered ecological community and is habitat for the critically endangered regent honey eater.

Ongoing employment for the region.
Continued community and charity support.
Will not increase mining footprint.
Reduce old shallow workings making ground safe from subsidence.

Please see attached submission.

Long standing operation has consistently proven to be a good operator, neighbour and employer.

Bloomfield is a great work place providing valuable jobs to the local community

I have made a political donation $120 to NSW Greens in June 2024 but when I clicked onto the link it took me to a unable to find document and I could not complete the disclosure, as such I had to click no when the answer should of been yes.
Attachment has required information as to why I object, the main reason is that
(1) There are no local offsets to enhance biodiversity corridors, significant areas around the mine site should be rezoned to C2 - Environmental Conservation; C2, Environmental Management.
(2) If mine proceeds the community donations was a ridiculously low amount for the last Bloomfield approval and should be at least $500k/annum or 0.5% of revenue whichever is greater to local charities for each year of operation indexed to inflation.
Donations to be managed by an independent trust.
(3) The proposed area is incorrect as the water discharge from the mine will go down four mile creek which should be included in the study.

Bloomfield is great company who supports the community

Bloomfield is a great company that highly supports the community with local employment and economic benefits.

I object to the Bloomfield Colliery Continuation Project for the following reasons:
1. Lower Hunter Spotted Gum-Ironbark Forest is an Endangered ecological community. It was determined to be Endangered by the NSW Scientific Committee on 5 November 2010.
2. The Lower Hunter Spotted Gum-Ironbark Forest is one of only three vegetation communities that provide habitat for the Critically Endnagerd Regent Honeyeater. There are estimated to be only 200-300 Regent Honeyeaters remaining in the wild today.
3. The Bloomfield Colliery site is only a few km from the key Hunter Valley site for Regent Honeyeaters, the Tomlapin Woodlands.
4. Any proposed offset site will not compensate for the loss of the above haitat.
5. There is no consideration of the impact of the addition production of a fossil fuel/coal on global heating and climate change.
5. Non of the above items are adequately addressed in the environmental impact statement.

Support for local community opportunities in trades and apprenticeships

I object to the expansion of the Bloomfield Colliery modification 5. The expansion will remove Lower Hunter Spotted Gum - Ironbark Forest EEC which is critical roosting, foraging and breeding habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. This species is on the brink of extinction and has been observed within 10 km of the expansion site. Not a single tree of its habitat should be removed at this critical juncture. The habitat itself is endangered which alone warrants protecting it from destruction. There is a strong possibility that critically endangered Swift Parrot which migrates from Tasmania to spend winter months in among other areas, the Hunter Region may also use this site for foraging. It is hard to understand why the NSW government continues to allow critical habitat to be destroyed and such destruction will in the future be viewed as criminal. I ask that you do not allow this project to continue.

As a resident of Louth Park, my property is bounded on two sides by Lower Hunter Spotted Gum and Ironbark Forest (LHSGIF) vegetation type. I have a device to measure dust fallout from the Bloomfield mine at the bottom of my garden. This LHSGIF is home to a wide range of native fauna right on my doorstep. Fauna that I have the opportunity to share with my children and grandchildren. We enjoy the privilege of seeing mobs of kangaroos, yellow tailed black cockatoos, bell birds and choughs to name but a few.

Unfortunately, short sighted local, state and federal government departments have failed to develop large tracts of bushland responsibly. In the Lower Hunter, clearing of large tracts of land have been carried out poorly and recklessly with scant regard for the survival of native flora and fauna. Last September, the mass clearing of LHSGIF at Thornton resulted in injured and displaced fauna flooding Newcastle veterinary clinics to overcapacity. Then the clearing of a large tract of LHSGIF adjacent to Buchanan Road, Buchanan for a gas pipeline. And now a Continuation of Project from Bloomfield to clear another 51.69 hectares of LHSGIF.

The unalterable loss of so much habitat exacts a heavy price to the survival of our native fauna. As the Regent Honeyeater teeters on the brink of extinction, all efforts should be made to protect its habitat, the LHSGIF. This unique flora is their breeding and winter feeding grounds. In 2024, more than 30 Regent Honeyeaters were found within or nearby the LHSGIF. Therefore this vegetation type should be considered absolutely essential to the breeding and winter feeding habits of the Regent Honeyeaters.

I request that the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water complete further assessment of the Regent Honeyeater in the proposed area of modification. The Regent Honeyeaters needs to be assessed during the breeding and winter feeding season and the flora that sustains them during this period.

In the event that this proposal be approved, biodiversity offsets should be on the untouched Bloomfield site to safeguard the longevity of the Regent Honeyeater’s existence.

Stop the clearing of LHSGIF. The Hunter Regional Plan 2041 explains the value in conserving high environmental value lands by supporting biodiversity connections across the LHSGIF 4 Mile Creek site.

If the local, state and federal government departments want to stop the decline of threatened species, then they have to work hard to protect this unique habitat. Do you want a legacy of extinction or preservation?

The Bloomfield Colliery Continuation (BCC) - Mod 5 should be rejected by the assessors on environmental grounds.

My wife and I built in Louth Park in 2012. Since then there has been major residential growth in the Maitland LGA. Both my wife’s family and mine have lived continuously in the Lower Hunter since the 1830s and 1850s respectively. I have been a member of the Bloomfield Community Consultative Committee for several years.

I have several objections to the BCC proposal.

1. The destruction of 51.69 hectares of the Lower Hunter Spotted Gum and Ironbark Forest (LHSGIF) is environmental vandalism at its most abhorrent.

This forest has a conservation status in NSW of Endangered Ecological Community, gazetted 18 February 2005. To achieve this recognition the area had to be thoroughly assessed by a number of qualified experts. The community is dominated by the Spotted Gum and several other Ironbarks and eucalypt species. The understory and ground layer are diverse with more than 20 identified species. In an undisturbed condition the structure of the community is typically open forest.

Before European settlement this community had a range of about 65 km by 35 km centred on the Cessnock - Beresfield area. Four large patches of the LHSGIF are estimated to have covered nearly 50,000 ha, representing 75% of the total distribution. The community is currently mapped as occurring in more than 4,800 fragments, of which more than 4,500 are less than 10 ha in area. The four largest patches now cover about 7,000 ha, representing less than one-quarter of the current distribution, or about 10% of the estimated pre-European distribution.

If most of the remaining LHSGIF community is less than 10 ha in area, then a fragment of 51.69 ha is of significant size.

2. Loss of habitat. The LHSGIF has provided essential habitat for birds and animals for thousands of years: food, nesting sites, living space. The Hunter Bird Observers Club (HBOC) has studied and reported on the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. In the early 1900s these birds were among the most common species seen. Once widespread from Adelaide to central coast Queensland, today it is estimated only 250 - 350 Regent Honeyeaters remain in the wild. In 2024 when the Spotted Gums flowered there were more than 30 Regent Honeyeaters found within or nearby to the LHSGIF. This habitat is vitally important to Regent Honeyeaters because it is one of the few breeding/winter habitats remaining for a species with an extremely restricted contemporary range. Offsets cannot be relied upon to address ongoing habitat loss. HBOC has provided sound arguments that the claims regarding Regent Honeyeaters in the Bloomfield Biodiversity Development Assessment Report are flawed.

Other vulnerable birds are known to depend on the LHSGIF. The Swift Parrot, with a population size of around 300 - 500 individuals is critically endangered, with predictions that the species could be extinct by 2031.

The population of the Australian Masked Owl is declining and several states have placed the owl on the Species Conservation Status list. In NSW the Masked Owl is scheduled as Vulnerable under the Biodiversity Conservation Act (2016).

3. Land clearing for housing is causing anger and dismay in the community. The Newcastle Herald reported: ‘Newcastle is being hammered ‘ : how the housing boom is threatening species survival, 17 May 2025. The journalist, Matthew Kelly reported that Associate Professor Andrea Griffin, a wildlife conservation scientist and behavioural ecologist at the University of Newcastle, said that she was not aware of another region that was experiencing the amount of clearing that was occurring in the Lower Hunter. She said the loss of habitat corridors could have flow-on effects for species survival. “The animals that can occupy smaller patches, and it’s only some of them, become isolated populations. They inbreed, then you get problems with genetic diversity that can threaten species.”

Kelly also quoted Jacqui Mumford, NSW Nature Conservation Council. “While the state government had finally recognised the need for land clearing reform, the proposed solutions put forward to date had been inadequate. The government says it wants to stop species decline but at the same time we are losing wildlife and habitat.

The published comments to this article indicate the depth of feeling in the community:

“The Upper Hunter is already greatly impacted by large scale open cut mining. Carbon emissions are already detrimentally affecting our weather patterns and science shows that international commitments to reduce emissions are not being met.”

Another comment from the Australia Institute was equally to the point: “ … while politically powerful, the coal industry is a small employer, a reluctant tax payer, heavily subsidised and makes Australia a world leader in exporting climate pollution”. The Australia Institute calls “for a moratorium on new coal mines”.

4. Adverse effect on climate change. The IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) is a trusted and credible source of information, assembled by the United Nations for taking climate action. Scientists from the IPCC have given the world until 2030 to substantially reduce CO2 emissions to restrict global warming to 1.5 C. Scope 3 emissions from burning coal must be considered and clearly they are incompatible with the world as a whole achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, regardless or where the coal is burnt.

5. Greed. In the last year or two, the Bloomfield Group purchased the entire mine site from Ashtonfield Holding. This only makes sense if they have future plans for the site after they have finished mining it. So by extending the mining of the Workshop Cut they will take advantage of the existing rail loop. By mining this area Bloomfield will be able to stabilise the area to allow a future intermodal interchange.

6. If, you decide that the above arguments are insubstantial; that 51.69 ha of the LHSGIF can be destroyed; that the fauna can do their best elsewhere; that climate change is out of your control; then I ask that a biodiversity offset be located in the immediate area. If possible on the Bloomfield land.

Secondly, that after mining, the area be restored to vegetation similar to the LHSGIF. Bloomfield has practised “agricultural grazing” for all their mining, which manifests as a dozen Black Angus cattle wandering around in improved pasture. This looks “smart” in their publications, but is poor compensation for the hundreds of hectares of habitat loss.

I fully support of the extension of mining at Bloomfield Colliery on the basis of ongoing economic benefit for employees, contractors and suppliers to the site and their continued investment back in the local community.
Additionally, given the length of time mining has been conducted on the site, the extension will provide an opportunity to mine areas of shallow historic workings, removing the potential for voids to occur on the surface due to subsidence and providing improved options for the final landform design.