GLOUCESTER residents are celebrating a NSW commission’s rejection of the controversial Rocky Hill coal mine, but say the years-long battle is not over yet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gloucester Groundswell has 4500 signatures for a petition to NSW parliament calling on the Berejiklian Government to rescind or buy back the Rocky Hill licence, after the company backing the mine said it would continue to pursue the application.
Groundswell Gloucester founder Julie Lyford said Gloucester Resources could appeal Friday’s NSW Planning Assessment Commission decision to the Land and Environment Court, but the comprehensive rejection of the coking coal mine made that seem unlikely.
“We’re asking for the government to either rescind or buy back the licence which was only approved for a further three years earlier this year,” Ms Lyford said.
“We’re delighted the PAC upheld the community’s strong objections to this project, and that commonsense prevailed, but we won’t have certainty while the licence remains valid.”
The PAC rejected the project, which proposed to mine two million tonnes of coking coal per year from three pits for 21 years, with royalties to NSW of more than $60 million and jobs for 60 people.
The PAC on Friday found the mine was not in the public interest because of its proximity to the town of Gloucester, significant visual impact throughout the life of the project and because it directly contravened the area’s zoning plans.
The PAC found the mine would operate on the “margin of compliance” for noise impacts, and “with the risk of regular exceedances which would affect a large number of residents”.
It heard evidence from Doctors for the Environment NSW chair Dr John Van Der Kallen that the risks from the mine were “just too high”, and a blast fume mishap so close to Gloucester homes risked “a tragedy of international proportions”.
The PAC was told there were 111 houses within three kilometres of the proposal. The Department of Planning acknowledged that while the likelihood of unplanned emissions from a blast fume or spontaneous combustion mishap was low, “the consequences would be significant”.
Dr Van Der Kallen said the PAC decision was a major triumph for the Gloucester community.
NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham and Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale, who visited the area during the campaign, congratulated the community.
Ms Lyford said Gloucester Resources had spent millions of dollars buying up substantial land holdings in the area. The company has not responded to requests for comment.
