Plans for the new Bylong Coal Project between Denman and Mudgee have been dealt yet another blow with the Planning Assessment Commission (PCA) slamming the project.
The PAC report on the KEPCO coal mine project slammed it for gaps in evidence and high levels of uncertainty, particularly about the potential cumulative impacts on the Bylong Valley and the community. The report also flagged numerous issues with water access, protection of surrounding agriculture and incomplete information.
There are particular concerns for the Hunter Valley from the Lock the Gate Alliance who say the scathing review revealed the Bylong coal project would directly open cut rich farmland in the Hunter and severely impact Tarwyn Park.
NSW Greens energy and resources spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham says the mine will destroy ecologically and environmentally important areas throughout the Hunter and the state.
"The area must be protected for its agriculture and tourism value plus its environmental values in an age of climate change the greens do not believe we should be opening up new coal mines in NSW."
If approved the mine will extract a total of 124 million tonnes, roughly 6.5 million each year, from both open cut operations and underground. Jeremy Buckingham is urging the government to reconsider the mine and realise just how much it will wreck the Bylong Valley, its community and the surrounds.
"The Bylong Valley must be protected, it's important, ecological,, agricultural, and our tourism assets will be destroyed by this stupid coal mine. We have major climate change and we do not need to be opening coal mines, the Greens are calling on the government to cancel their exploration licence and give the people, the Bylong Valley and NSW certainty that that region will be protected from destructive coal mining."
