ANYONE whose livelihood depended on the continuation of the Bloomfield Group's Rix's Creek South open cut coal mine on the edge of Singleton came in support and mostly wearing orange high-vis.
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For those opposed to the project, that would see the mine continue for another 21 years and extract a further 25 million tonnes of coal, they wore face masks to highlight their concerns with air pollution.
All this took place at the Civic Centre on Monday morning where the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) conducted a public meeting into their final determination of the Rix's Creek South Continuation Project.
The venture has been going through the planning approval process since 2015.
It's a very costly process and it would appear neither the proponent nor those set against the mine's continuation appear to relish the procedures involved in planning approvals.
In fact, those opposed to the project decided to boycott the event even though their names were on the list of speakers.
Bev Smiles was called out a few times by the IPC representatives as she was listed among the speakers but she remained steadfastly outside, saying the IPC simply ignored all the information and data provided.
She added it was a waste of their time addressing these meetings.
"They take no notice of what we present - so why speak to them when every issue we raise is ignored," she said.
Inside the Civic Centre, Bloomfield Group's Geoff Moore told the commissioners the continuation of the mine was a logical step to provide employment for their workers and much-needed economic inputs for the region.
He countered the NSW Resources Regulator's recent criticism of the mine's rehabilitation work, saying the weed problem was always a challenge but made worse by the drought.
He said the mine had an ongoing weed management program and would not be changing its approach despite the Regulator's opinion.
"Our rehab paddocks have been assessed by the NSW Department of Primary Industry and they have no complaints in contrast to the NSW Resources Regulator," he explained.
On the subject of air quality, Mr Moore was also perplexed by of the latest request from the Department of Planning and Environment for more information about the project.
Last week the department's director of resource assessment Howard Reed, in a letter to the IPC, described Bloomfield's air quality assessment as "inadequate".
In response, Mr Moore told the IPC: "We are happy to provide any further information as much of that [information] has been in the public domain since 2015 when this process started".
In his conclusion, Mr Moore said the mine's continuation would provide employment for 255 full-time employees and 44 full-time equivalent contractors and produce net wages of $21 million injected into the Hunter community annually.
One speaker, who decided to give a critical assessment of both the IPC and the project directly to the commissioners, was Singleton general practitioner and member of Doctors for the Environment Bob Vickers.
First he delivered a scathing assessment of the commissioners' refusal to act on data he delivered at the Rix's Creek South Mod 10 hearing.
"By allowing this mine to continue for another nine months, the IPC has totally ignored the data I provided and the fact we are in a climate emergency - just look at the heatwave underway in Europe," he said.
"The IPC prefers to base their decisions on dodgy accounting by the mine company."
Dr Vickers, like Camberwell resident Deidre Olofsson who also spoke, raised a comment by commission chair Professor Mary O'Kane in a transcript from a meeting between the Department of Planning and the commission on July 9 this year.
The transcript, that is available on the IPC website, quotes Professor O'Kane in discussions with Mr Reed regarding air pollution saying "even in the Hunter, it's not Beijing".
Dr Vickers countered this comment by saying unlike Beijing, where they are reducing their air pollution, we were allowing ours to become worse.
"So far this year there have been 37 air quality alerts for Camberwell and it's only the end of July," he said.
"The cost to the local community annually from the health impacts of air pollution is $47 million - now how does that figure stack up to the income from this mine?"
He described the mine as falling in value at the same time as its health impacts on the community rise.
Dr Vickers also criticised another comment from the transcript where Mr Reed said "a significant proportion of the particulate matter in the air derives from sea salt".
"That is an incorrect statement," he said.
"We know full well that 50 per cent of the PM2.5 particulate pollution comes from fossil fuels.
"The Department of Planning is providing false information."
Louise Nichols
From cattle to coal. Once a specialist agriculture writer today its about community, in particular, the Upper Hunter. I have lived and worked in the region for more than 30 years. Land use issues and the future direction of our region. But you cannot take ag out of the picture - our food and how we grow it is the basis of all life. Covering the Hunter and Mid North Coast rural issues is now part of my role with ACM.
From cattle to coal. Once a specialist agriculture writer today its about community, in particular, the Upper Hunter. I have lived and worked in the region for more than 30 years. Land use issues and the future direction of our region. But you cannot take ag out of the picture - our food and how we grow it is the basis of all life. Covering the Hunter and Mid North Coast rural issues is now part of my role with ACM.
