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I object to the Vickery coal mine. It should not be approved.

1. The mine will generate more than 20 MTPA of CO2 equivalent
2. The mine is too close to the Namoi River and is a risk to irrigated
agriculture which extends well downstream and is the lifeblood of the
North West
3. The mine will generate too much traffic and contribute
significantly to the cumulative traffic load. The local councils are
not setup to cope as is evidenced by Rangeri Road and now it appears
that the company is trying to avoid building the overpass over the
Kamilaro Hwy
4. The crossing of the floodplain will open up even more areas for
coal mining
5. Coal mining must be phased out as soon as possible and spending
money on further coal infrastructure is not in keeping with an orderly
wind down of the industry leading to the likelihood of stranded assets
6. The proponents parent company has been in breach of its approvals
and in some cases has not fulfilled its planning conditions more than
5 years after the approvals were given. This behaviour should not be
rewarded with another mining approval
7. The cumulative impacts of 5 large coal mines near Boggabri are too
large. Mining if it must occur should be staged to minimise the
impacts to existing residents and businesses
8. There have already been 76 farms purchased by mining companies in
the area. Agriculture is being systematically displaced by government
policy and corporate greed hollowing a sustainable industry in favour
of a damaging one
9. The Dept of Planning and the EPA have shown that they are unable to
regulate the proponents parent company at Maules Creek. The processes,
approval conditions and staff levels are not fit for purpose to
regulate the existing mines let alone any more coal mines in the
region
10. Most people in NSW (81% Lowey Institute 2017) and Narrabri (97%
Lock the Gate 2018) want to focus on renewable energy and transition
away from fossil fuels. It is not appropriate for the Dept of Planning
to be progressing this coal project on the eve of a NSW election where
climate change, coal and renewables will be a key issue.
11. This project and others in the district was foreshadowed in the
Effects of Land Use on Coal Resources Report developed in the 1980s.
Its findings were that coal was at risk of being sterilised by prime
ag land and national parks and that action was needed to be taken to
minimise that threat. Its very sorry reading.

This project should be put on the back burner or dropped altogether.