Rio Tinto and their employees at Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW) open cut mine complex will be celebrating today following news the Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC) has given its final tick of approval for the expansion of the mines.
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The final determination comes after an 18 month process that included two PAC hearings and reviews, one public meeting and thousands upon thousands of submissions put to the Commission in favour and against the expansion plans.
Members of the Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association (BMPA) who wrote to the NSW Premier Baird last week calling on him intervene and prevent the former protected Saddleback Ridge from being open cut mined were heart broken by the latest development.
Under the expansion plans Warkworth mine will extract 230million tonnes of coal over 21 years.
In PAC's summary of their determination report it states they have carefully balanced the key areas of concern about the mine's continuation, including the scoio-economic benefits, the impacts of the village of Bulga, Aboriginal cultural heritage, final voids, air quality and noise.
"The Commission has determined that the Warkworth and Mount Thorley Continuation Projects should be approved subject to stringent conditions." the reports states.
A spokesperson for Rio Tinto said “This approval will come as a great relief for thousands of people across Singleton and the Hunter Valley – from our 1300 employees and their families to people working at the hundreds of local businesses that supply the mine and community groups it supports.
“We will thoroughly review the Planning Assessment Commission’s determination now to assess the detail of the findings.”
BMPA president John Krey said the Bulga community will not be giving up the fight to protect their village.
Association members were gathered at his home this morning talking strategy, that will also include speaking to their legal advisers, the Environmental Defenders Office next week.
"We have not ruled out civil disobedience and we are warning the future owners of MTW that they will be taking on the anger and wrath of the residents of Bulga village, " Mr Krey said.
"Two courts ruled this mine application should be rejected but today's PAC determination supported by the state government says those courts were wrong.
"And this mine now approved by PAC is exactly the same mine application rejected by the courts ."
Mr Krey said the community had too much at stake to allow MTW to expand as most of the residents are now left with stranded assets.
He was dismissive of the so-called stringent consent conditions especially the 900 hectare final void.
"Grow a few trees to screen a monstrous, unusable, whole in the ground - what difference will a few trees make, " he said.
Mr Krey said the statement released by NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes saying, the Government will shortly consult on a proposal to prohibit open cut mining within a 2.5km buffer between the Mt Thorley-Warkworth mine and the village of Bulga meant very little.
"The mine was coming within 2.6km of Bulga and Stokes has now put a line in the sand at 2.5km - which does absolutely nothing for us.'
"Keep the mine where it is 4.6km away from Bulga or make them extract the coal by underground methods."