I fully support the extension of the Vickery Coal Mine as this will
create jobs for the area & boost the enconomy.
Hopefully this will enable the council to build/update the
infrastructure in the community.
win, win

I believe the project will provide secure and long term employment for a
large number of staff in the New England region. It will provide
royalties for the state government to spend on schools, hospitals and
emergency services. Local small businesses will benefit from supplying
a range of services and products to the mine. I expect that Whitehaven
will follow all environmental conditions and controls placed upon them
as they have for their other mines, as long as these are satisfied I
believe the mine is a great opportunity for the region and the state.

Provides lots of employment opportunities to the local community and I
believe it's a great boost for the North West Region.

I support this development

Our organisation wish to support and have reviewed the studies and its
environmental impact in the region.

I am in full support of the vickery project and support all studies
conducted via Whitehaven Coal.

The northwest needs industry to help towns survive in hard times. This
project will secure employment for future generations

The project will allow the town to continue to grow.
More jobs in a community supportive of mining is a great thing.
The project has my full support.

I do support the application as I believe it will be good for the local
community by creating direct and indirect job opportunities and thus
having a positive impact on the local economy.

Our organisation is in favour of the project as long as it meets all of
the regulatory guidelines and environmental criteria. As a community
we rely on government departments to ensure these boxes are ticked.

The economic benefits to the community are greatly appreciated but as
Gunnedah has experienced many ups and downs but since the
reinvigoration of the extraction industry it has added to the
diversity and has helped to future proof our economic well being.

With that said, diversity is key to the sustainability of Gunnedah.
Therefore, we need to maintain that diversity. To maintain this
diversity we need a whole of community approach and we as a chamber we
wish that the benefits of the extraction industry can benefit the
whole of the community. In this regard, we need commitment to
training. Community funds that have been contributed to projects have
been earmarked for training the residents of this region to take up on
all of the opportunities of all sectors that have been created by the
economic well being of this project.

An example of what our community needs is a skills excellence centre
with accommodation attached so that the wider community including our
region around Gunnedah can come and tap into the benefits of the
diverse business economy offers be trained by specialist trainers that
have identified the shortfalls in skills across our community that are
reactive as the economic environment changes. This skills excellence
centre would add to the pool of trained employees for all businesses
to be able to access as the pressure on skilled employees increases
demand for skilled employees.

It is important that trade happens locally in the first instance at
every opportunity. Tenders should be weighted in that local businesses
are prioritised.

For example, we encourage Whitehaven to think about building a multi
maintenance centre utilising the washery site when its de
commissioned. This centre would support the whole of the whitehavens
mining operations and would conduct their off site maintenance
program. this facility would be supported strongly by a high level of
apprentices being trained by trades qualified with multiple years of
mining experience.

This centre would then support the mining and non-mining operations
with supplying highly skilled specialist trades people for the benefit
of the whole of the business community but in the first instance being
the feeder of the mining operations taking the pressure off local
businesses that are training apprentices only to lose them to the
extraction industry and not being able to find anyone to replace them
as there are major shortages in all levels of skills.

This is a cost effective suggestion from a transport and time
perspective.