Modification 5 Bloomfield Colliery Continuation Project

Bloomfield has good respect in the community and for the project to go forward is good for every one involved for me and my family and grandchildren and businesses around the town and the economy

Employment and economic benefits for the local community, the State of NSW, and Australia: Continued mining will mean ongoing employment for our employees, contractors and supply companies. There will be additional taxation payable to both the State and Commonwealth Governments from the additional years of mining. Royalties will also be paid to the State on the additional resource that will be mined. These royalties contribute to funding NSW hospitals, schools, essential services, and infrastructure projects.
Community investments: Continued mining will mean ongoing investment in the many community organisations Bloomfield supports in the local area through The Bloomfield Group Foundation.
Improved final landform: The proposed modification would result in beneficial changes to the currently approved post mining landform by reducing the size of the final void and reducing rehabilitated slope angles, which benefit the final land use (cattle grazing).
Opportunity to address legacy matters associated with the site: Mining has been carried out at the site since the late 1850s. The project provides the opportunity to mine an area of shallow historic underground workings, thereby removing the potential for subsidence and voids to occur at the surface and providing improved long term stability benefits for the final landform.
Results of key studies
As part of preparing the EIS, a series of specialist technical studies were completed, indicating that the continuation of operations can be undertaken and managed to meet the requirements for air quality, noise and blasting.
A biodiversity offset strategy will also address the ecological impacts associated with the disturbance of vegetation.

The Bloomfield Group are an excellent Corporate Citizen in this local area, they provide employment and support many local Charites etc.
Continued mining will mean ongoing employment for our employees, Contractors and Suppliers in this area.
The shut down of Modification 5 would be devastating for the local area

I have worked for this company for over thirty four years.
In this time have found Bloomfield to continue to strive for efficiency ,innovation,safety and sustainability with the environment.
The rehabilitation of this mine speaks for itself,quality grazing country sustaining a Angus Stud beef enterprise
I truly believe that that the continuation of this mining operation will only benefit the local economy and communities

I adopt any submissions made by the Black Hill and/or Buttai Environmental groups.
I have lived on Browns Road for 40+ years and I can say that the noise from the mine has only become worse. Last week or so we had almost a full day of blasting/rumbling - it is very hard to work from home when this is going on. Apart from the relentless noise, the traffic is appalling on John Renshaw Drive - trucks compression braking all day/night.
The project notes the 'benefits' to the area. How many people that live in Black Hill work there? We're professionals and so there are no mining/digging jobs that we want to do. We get all the disadvantages while the mining company profits from our distress from the noise and environmental vandalism. We're supposed to be zoned rural residential but there are so many industries around the area that it is no longer recognisable. The noise is never-ending. When you add this to the 'new' quarry, the new industrial estate at the other end of John Renshaw and the mine stuck in the middle, it is to the point where we feel like we're living in Glendale. So, yes, I object to this proposal. Fossil fuels are supposed to be being elimintated and so this mine should not be extended. The project pamphlet states that by extending the mine, they can do all this wonderful remediation - but nothing is stopping you from doing that now. Enough is enough. There is a climate emergency. How will we reach our 2030 targets if you continue to open mines (no distinction between opening a mine and extending it). Scientists from the IPCC have given the world until 2030 to substantially reduce CO2 emissions to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees C - extending operations to 2035 are contrary to this advice. There are arguments that we have flown past that 1.5 and are now at 2 degrees.
You are killing our wildlife. Drive along JR Drive and check the dead kangaroos and echidnas and other wildlife. The biodiversity significance of the Buttai/Black Hill area is understated by the mining project. The Hunter Regional Plan 2041 highlights the need for conserving high environmental value lands, and supporting biodiversity connections across the Four Mile creek (Bloomfield) site.
Bloomfield's biggest customers are in Japan - a wealthy country that can choose to phase out coal fired power and replace it with low CO2 emissions energy eg expanding off-shore wind. Why is the Black Hill community being disadvantaged so that you can make billions of dollars from the Japanese and destroy our environment. Really does not seem fair.
Further evidence of killing our native fauna/flora. Project was determined to be a controlled action by DCCEEW (Dept of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water):
o DCCEEW requested further assessment for Koala and Pied Bat;
o DCCEEW required additional assessment of Regent Honeyeater, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Swift Parrot, Greater Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider, New Holland Mouse and Spot-tailed Quoll;
o The additional assessment concluded that the Swift Parrot will require offsets;
We all know offsets are a bit of a joke - they are certainly not for the environment but rather companies. There are koalas around here but nobody seems to care. Sorry for the cynicism. We have protested against this for a very long time. None of us get paid for this like the mining companies and consultants - and we are the ones that get hurt. I would love the government to stand up for its public over fossil fuel companies. It would be great if this project were terminated, the land properly rehabilitated and so the country can heal. We of the community might also get some sleep.

I have been retired for approximately 18 months now. Prior to this I was employed in the coal mining industry for 43 years, with the last 35 years being in a supervisory role as an Open Cut Examiner.
My family's history in this Black Hill area commenced when they first settled here in 1897, some 128 years ago. We have a long and close connection to this area which continues to this day.
During this time the Bloomfield Group through its various company forms, have been successfully mining coal locally here.
I would very much like to see this continue.
They have shown over the years that they will do as much as humanly possible to minimise any impacts on the local area and operate within their licence conditions.
They support local employment along with using local businesses etc.
They have contributed to many local projects and charities. One of which I have been involved with, Angel Tree, supports the families of people who have a family member parent or grandparent, who is incarcerated through the Christmas period.
They have shown me directly that they are extremely willing to assist and lessen any impacts and effects should the mining operation present.
As an example, I recall quite a number of years ago that there was a light issue coming from their mining operations. I gave them a phone call about the light, and within an hour the light was altered and there were no further issues. That is part of what working with the community is all about.
I would wish them all the best with their continued working in this area and hope that their application is successful.
Unfortunately there has been a small group of individuals in this area, who would believe that they would be the negative voice for this project as well as many others. This is not the case, I would support this application wholeheartedly.
Kind Regards Dave Balcombe

I support the continuation of the Bloomfield Mine for a further five years to the 31st of December 2035.

The project provides significant economic benefit for the employees and the community.

The continuation project has minimal short-term environmental impact, whilst delivering significant long-term environmental benefits. Improvements to the final landform design, informed by engineering studies, enable the delivery of long-term safe, stable and non-polluting rehabilitation outcomes. The removal of legacy underground mine workings also allows for a lower long-term risk than sealing of entries.

I believe the continuation of this project will provide many benefits for the employees of The Bloomfield Group, contractors to The Bloomfield Group and the surrounding communities. Continued mining will mean continued investment in local charities, continued revenue for the governments through taxation and royalties and the company will have time to address any issues with rehabilitation and legacy matters in regard to underground mining that had been carried out on the site since the mid 1800s.

Dear DPHI,
I strongly support the Modification 5 Bloomfield Colliery Continuation Project-MP07_0087-MOD5, noting:
1. The proposed Bloomfield Colliery Continuation Modification 5 is substantially the same development as the development for which consent was originally granted in September 2009;
2. In its current state, the mine has operated within a locality where many of the newer suburban residents are unaware of its existence. Surely this alone would prove the best practices applied to the operation are effective and not problematic to the wider community;
3. The Bloomfield Colliery has operated on a continuous basis since 1937 providing stable employment for generations of local people;
4. In addition to the federal and state royalties, taxes, etc., The Bloomfield Group Foundation continues to provide community support to various local organisations.
A rejection of the project would only have negative impacts on the wider community, therefore, I strongly support the approval.
Your Sincerely
Sten Fraser

Please see attached

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.

The continuation of Bloomfield Colliery has economic benefits for the local community and NSW through employment, support of local contractors/suppliers and state royalties. Living in the adjacent suburb and only 3 kilometres away, I experience no noise or other impact from the operation and fully support its continuation.

I strongly object to this proposal. The proposal site encompasses a highly endangered plant community of spotted gum and ironbark. This site is also known area for the Regent Honeyeater because of the spotted gum, a known feed tree species. The Regent Honeyeater is listed as critically endangered in NSW and Commonwealth conservation legislation. The Regent Honeyeater feeds mainly on nectar from a small number of eucalypt species, acting as a pollinator for many flowering plants and a major threat is habitat loss and degradation. Considerable economic effort (eg a breeding program using public funds) has been expended to preserve this endangered bird and habitat. This public effort and support should NOT be wasted.

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.

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?

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.

Support for local community opportunities in trades and apprenticeships

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.

Bloomfield is great company who supports the 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.