Wilpinjong Coal Mine Extension

There is no excuse for persisting with developing new coal mines when NSW has the option of producing its energy requirements from alternative sources that don't pollute the environment and destroy the countryside.

I making a submission as I lived in the Hunter for several years whilst working in Muswellbrook and Singleton.

I drove between offices and on a daily basis was effected by the large mining trucks transversing the highway. It was dangerous as the trucks often dropped coal and much dust and were very distracting on the highway. I feared that I would be involved in a collision and make my working day very stressful.

I would urge the NSW government to reconsider allowing the coalmine any closer to Wollar and to restrict use of public roads to mining vehicles out of peak public travel hours.

Living in Muswellbrook which is surrounded by mines I also found our house and office constantly coated in dust and those mines are alot further away than the Wollar proposal.

I object to the mine being so close to the village. The community's health and well being will suffer.

* The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
* The cumulative social impact of loss of population through mining projects from Ulan to Bylong has not been considered.
* The noise assessment, monitoring and mitigation measures are totally inadequate.
* Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
* The extension will remove 354 hectares of remnant native vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities - more than the current approval. The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.
* The cumulative impacts on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions, community and rural industry have not been rigorously assessed.
* The mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
* The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
* The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
* The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
* The ongoing impacts on groundwater and surface water systems will be greater than predicted.
* The predicted job numbers are overstated compared, with the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal.
* Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations.
* The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
* The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

As suppliers of services to all three mines I support the extension application on the basis of continued economic growth for the Mid Western Region. The mines impacts on this region is significant and any negative development and or growth will be felt in Mudgee and surrounding towns business communities.

The once sleepy community of Wollar is now face to face with a dirty coal mine that is poised to expand to within 1.5 kilometres of it.

The dust and noise for local residents will be unbearable, and the harm to our climate from more polluting coal is unacceptable.

Even though coal company Peabody is in dire financial straits, it is pushing ahead with plans to expand its Wilpinjong mine ever closer to the community.

The proposal to continue extraction of low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified

This proposal would be environmentally damaging and would provide little benefit to the local community

It is beyond the time to extend or begin any coal mine. The industry needs to be wound back while encouraging renewable energy projects.
And besides, the impacts of coal mines on the health and well being of communities is unacceptable.

there is no need for further coal expansion
The historic village will have to close down
consider the native veg and all the animals that live in this valuable habitat they are valuable assets, more important than just another mine
Mr B you have been going roughshod over our environment for too long, beware the ballot box. we remember Bulga

The extraction of coal is having too many negative impacts. The use of coal is declining and safer and cleaner forms of energy should be pursued.
Australian people and the quality of their lives should be the priority, not money, especially when most of it ends offshore.
No further expansions should be permitted that will destroy the environment for decades and damage the lives of the local community.

I object to the extension of this mine. The noise, dust and annoyance factor will be of major significance to the village of Wollar and the surrounding district. Cumulative effects of mining in the district need a thorough investigation.

There is a major concern over the loss of yet more remnant vegetation, over 350 hectares, which seems completely unacceptable when we are trying to minimize our biodiversity losses in this state. Biodiversity offsets are really adequate, but are completely unacceptable in this instance due to the possible effects on regent honeyeater and koala, and lack of reservation status.

Finally, coal mine extensions will add to carbon emissions in our atmosphere. We should be putting our investment in renewable energy, not last century's fossil fuel industries.

The Wilpinjong Extension Project should not be approved. The potential, permanent impacts of the mine on the water supply have unknown elements that make the risks unacceptable, in particular to the local community who will not be able to live in Wollar. The mining company, Peabody, along with other American mining companies is in financial strife. Their capacity to invest in adequate damage offset in the future, although there is no scientific consensus that this damage can truly be "offset", is doubtful.
Therefore as a state government acting for the voters who elected it, rather than for the foreign corporations who act solely on behalf of their investors whether private or public, your responsibility is to protect the long term assets of the community by withholding approval for this mine expansion.

Regards
Chris Bilsland

I Object to the expansion because of the following:-
The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
The cumulative social impact of loss of population through mining projects from Ulan to Bylong has not been considered.
The noise assessment, monitoring and mitigation measures are totally inadequate.
Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
The extension will remove 354 hectares of remnant native vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities - more than the current approval. The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.
The cumulative impacts on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions, community and rural industry have not been adequately or rigorously assessed.
The mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
The ongoing impacts on groundwater and surface water systems will be greater than predicted.
The predicted job numbers are overstated compared, with the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal.
Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations.
The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing to object to the proposed mining venture at Wilpinjong. The pervasive impact upon biodiversity, local Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions and community and rural industry have not been thoroughly assessed.
The mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context nor in the broader national context.
The distress that mining will have upon a quiet, village lifestyle will be negatively profound, causing an immediate loss of quality of lifestyle and a loss of local, indigenous culture. With the rest of the world steering away from fossil fuels, this NSW government is taking the state backwards, to an era of unregulated pollution, where small, defenceless communities lose their identity until all they are left with is a ruined dustbowl for a town.

Stop expansion because
* The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
* The cumulative social impact of loss of population through mining projects from Ulan to Bylong has not been considered.
* The noise assessment, monitoring and mitigation measures are totally inadequate.
* Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
* The extension will remove 354 hectares of remnant native vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities - more than the current approval. The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.
* The cumulative impacts on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions, community and rural industry have not been rigorously assessed.
* The mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
* The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
* The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
* The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
* The ongoing impacts on groundwater and surface water systems will be greater than predicted.
* The predicted job numbers are overstated compared, with the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal.
* Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations.
* The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
* The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified

The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unliveable.
This is due as the noise assessment, monitoring and mitigation measures are totally inadequate. The air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
The extension will remove 354 hectares of remnant vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities - this is more than the current approval. The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. The cumulative impacts on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emmissons, community and rural industry have not been rigorously assessed.
The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
The mine will produce ad additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The ongoing impacts on groundwater and surface water systems will be greater than predicted.
The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Nature Reserve. The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
The predicted job numbers are overstated compared with the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal.
The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations.
The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environment and social damage cannot be justified.

While the NSW government believes the operating standards for approval and management of mining in NSW complies with "worlds best standards", the fact is that this, unfortunately, is not so.

The standards that constitute "worlds best practice" need to be rigorously implemented and monitored and be genuinely Worlds Best Practice. The recommendations of the NSW Chief Scientist regarding CSG and unconventional gas mining in NSW have still not been fully implemented and this level of care is currently missing in coal mining project approvals also!

On these grounds (and more) I strongly object to the current proposal to expand the mining activities at Wilpinjong

I spent alot of my childhood in wollar visiting my grandpa, it is a really good community and a nice/freindly village so i object to the expansion of wilpinjong mine.

I am strongly opposed to this mine extension proposal. The environmental, social and heritage impacts are significant and detrimental. It is at a proposal at the far end of the spectrum in respect of potential negative impacts.

I am particularly concerned with Aboriginal heritage issues including the post settlement period. From an environmental aspect it looks set to be a disaster.

I believe that we as a community have a responsibility to ensure the protection of bio diversity, and this is an important area in this respect.

It is a question of stewardship and the precautionary principle. This is a proposal where the risks are significant and will be borne by the wider community and future generations. The potential economic gain does not appear sufficient to warrant this degree of risk. I believe the extension should not be approved.