There should be a ban on ALL new coal mines worldwide. What do the politicians not understand australians and people across the globe DONT want to continue using coal!

I 100% support this community to reject this coal mine. Coal mining is not sustainable and we as the people must protect land and water and makes renewable choices for jobs and power. People wishing to protect there land that they love and look after are not protesters they are protectors. Stand strong. I reject this coal mine because it dose not serve our future generations.

Mining in the beautiful Bylong Valley will have long-term effects on prime agricultural land and water systems. Impacts on ground & surface water will affect local farms and production and cause long-term problems with the alluvial aquifer system. Nationally threatened species live in this area including the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby and the Spotted tailed Quoll. 17 threatened species of bird and 7 threatened plants grow in this area. This proposal by KEPCO should not go forward.

4 November 2015

Bylong Coal Project: SSD 14_6367

Running Stream Water Users Association objects to the proposed coal mine in the Bylong Valley.

We question why a coal project that met only one of 12 criteria under the Gateway Process was even allowed to progress to submission of EIS stage. We note that at least two of the Gateway issues are not addressed in the EIS:

* there is no assessment of cease to pump limits
* there is inadequate assessment of agricultural land issues.

How was this EIS passed as suitable for exhibition? This just confirms the widely held view among the community that the Gateway Process is a meaningless farce.

This project, even in its proposal stage, has already had major negative impacts:

* Inadequate mapping of Bioregional Significant Agricultural Land (BSAL) from the start. One of the historical horse breeding properties of the Bylong Valley was not included in the mapped BSAL, simply because it had already been sold to Kepco. Just before the mapping was done, the owner decided it was too risky to carry out his planned expansion of operations and chose to do so elsewhere. The quality of the land had not changed. The subsequent loss of investment and jobs in the valley directly caused by this coal project does not rate a mention in the EIS.
* Decimation of a once vibrant community. The most graphic proof of this is the cessation of the iconic rural event, the Bylong Mouse Races. Over 25 years, the Bylong Mouse Races raised over half a million dollars for the local and wider community. However, two years ago, due to property buyouts by Kepco, there was no longer sufficient community members left to run the event. Where is this impact mentioned in the EIS?

There will be significant impacts on surface and groundwater. The river system is over-allocated and, as mentioned above, the EIS fails to address the issue of cease to pump limits. The predicted peak losses of up to 295 million litres per year (ML/yr) in the highly connected alluvial aquifer system within the stressed Bylong River catchment is unacceptable, as is the predicted 919 ML/yr loss of base flows to the Bylong River. Local farmers will lose vitally important water supplies.

The predicted drawdown of groundwater levels caused by the open cut immediately adjacent to the renowned `Tarwyn Park' property will destroy the groundbreaking work done there. Natural Sequence Farming is about raising the level of groundwater in the landscape. This mine project does the opposite, so we fail to see how `Tarwyn Park' will be protected.

The mine proposes to use up to 1942 ML/yr, which is over 75% of the annual rainfall recharge. This is not sustainable. In addition, the EIS fails to address how adequate water will be available for the mine during the inevitable `prolonged dry periods', as we now call droughts. We would expect at least two, if not three droughts during the proposed life of the project.

A significant area of prime agricultural land will be destroyed: the mine footprint will disturb 2875 ha of land, including 440 ha of Bioregional Significant Agricultural Land (BSAL), 260 ha being destroyed in open cut, plus 700 ha of mapped Critical Equine Industry Cluster Land. To present this as a small percentage of the state's overall high-quality land is disingenuous. For all its vast size, Australia has very little high-quality agricultural land and 200 years of European settlement has resulted in the degradation of large swathes of it. We cannot afford to lose any more. Food production must be given priority over mining, especially when the proposed resource can be sourced elsewhere and in areas already degraded. It makes no sense to add further to degraded land. The proposal to replace BSAL at another location is untested and high risk.

The touted economic benefits of the proposed mine are of dubious value. We question the assumption that there will be some $302 million benefit to the state from corporate taxes. We are not so naïve to think that an overseas corporation, selling to itself, will in fact be paying corporate tax at the full rate - if at all.

When quoting economic figures, the EIS does not compare like with like: it compares the annual value of agricultural production against the total economic value of life of the mine. Given that agriculture has been producing economic benefits in Bylong Valley for nearly 200 years and, if left undisturbed by a coal mine, can continue to produce for hundreds more years, such a comparison is invalid. We reject such short-term comparisons. Food production for the centuries to come is more important than a few years of royalty income.

Jobs are touted as a reason for this project to go ahead. However, there is no tally given of jobs lost due to agricultural land being taken out of action, nor the jobs lost in relation to the loss of the local school. These are all long-term (decades and decades) jobs as opposed to short-term construction jobs and slightly longer-term, but equally impermanent mining jobs. Viewed over a longer time frame, the economic benefit is not so great. Furthermore, the full economic costs of the social dislocation, loss of biodiversity and cultural heritage, both European and Indigenous, have not been accounted for.

Grassy Box Gum Woodland has been declared a critically endangered ecological community but every year more of it is destroyed with impunity by mining operations. Approval of this mine makes such declarations meaningless. Why is it permissible to destroy yet more Grassy Box Gum Woodland, along with habitat for 17 threatened species of bird and seven threatened plant species? Ecological systems are not readily rebuilt and we fail to see how conserving another area of what already is supposedly a protected community is a valid offset.

The proposed offset arrangements do not adequately compensate for the loss of the high biodiversity values of the mine disturbance area. Nationally endangered species recorded in the area include the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, New Holland Mouse, Regent Honeyeater and Spotted-tailed Quoll. Three entirely new plant species have also been recorded.

The EIS fails to address the devastating social impacts on the Bylong Community. We have already mentioned the loss of the Bylong Mouse Races due to depopulation caused by Kepco buyouts. A once vibrant rural community has now been decimated. The depopulation has ongoing impacts - lack of feral animal control and inadequate numbers to run the local fire brigade are just two of the most obvious negative impacts.

This is a highly flawed EIS and we understand there will be a number of in-depth critiques given by experts that will prove this.

This mine should not go ahead. The predicted long-term impacts on prime agricultural land and water systems in the Bylong Valley are unacceptable and will not be mitigated through proposed offsets and rehabilitation. The renowned Tarwyn Park Natural Sequence Farming processes will also be destroyed.

We suggest that Kepco can fulfil its coal security needs by purchasing one of the nearby coal mines in the Hunter Valley that have been recently closed or been placed into care and maintenance. This will save Kepco significant infrastructure costs and save Australia the significant costs of loss of prime agricultural land and significant biodiversity and of major social dislocation.

The formal submissions on behalf of Timnath Pty Limited are provided as an attachment, below. In addition, the submission includes Annexure A being a DVD movie which could not be attached and have been sent with a hard copy of the submission by Express Post.

I am not against progress but Coal Mining???? Is this not the opposite to progress. Investing the same amount of money in solar; wind; etc types of power would have a longer lifetime benefit to all. I believe that coal is a waning industry throughout the world. So......??? Destroying even one tenth of this area to mine coal resulting in loss of valuable agricultural land and habitat for our wildlife is backward thinking on the part of our government. Please listen to all the objections and do not allow this project to continue. Yet another sell out to foreign company.

I'm protesting about the mining and fracking in upper bylong valley because of the pristine nature of the area and am not happy about the removable of the remains from the bylong Catholic cemetry lncluding my grandparents (Hugh France's and Susan Cobrey)

This project is not in the best interests of the people of NSW. The small number of jobs and the royalties the government receives are short sighted benefits.

The longer term benefits of ending mining here are instead farming, bushland and authentic Australian local communities. Where better to raise children? Protect our wildlife? Age with dignity?

We need farmland and agriculture more than we need any more coal mines or csg industries. We have cleaner, greener alternatives that do not necessitate the destruction of farmland but the only alternative we have for our farmland is to import what the land can no longer produce. This is unsustainable and threatens our food security.

I cannot believe our government will allow this beautiful place to be destroyed to make another country rich. Shame on you all for destroying what does not belong to you