The NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPIE) has recommended the approval of plans to expand the Mount Pleasant coal mine near Muswellbrook.
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The mine's operator, MACH Energy, is proposing to 'optimise' the existing Mount Pleasant mine to extract an additional 247 Mt (million tonnes) of run-of-mine (ROM) coal, by deepening and extending part of the open cut areas.
The project also involves increasing the mine's production rate to 21 Mtpa (million tonnes per annum), an increase from the current 10.5 Mtpa, and extending the mine life by 22 years, to December 2048.
The DPIE said it had received 250 submissions in response to MACH's plans, with 56 per cent of responses opposed and 42 per cent in favour of the project going ahead.
According to the DPIE Assessment Report of the project, submissions received objecting to the project primarily related to issues including "air quality, noise and related health impacts, as well as greenhouse gases and climate change impacts, water resource impacts, visual and land use impacts, socio-economic impacts and biodiversity impacts".
Meanwhile, submissions in support of the extension generally pointed to "the employment and economic benefits of the project and the existing mine, as well as related social benefits for the region".
Overall, the DPIE said "on balance the benefits of the project outweigh its costs", and said the Mount Pleasant project is approvable subject to a list of recommended conditions including requirements to offset the project's biodiversity impacts, limit greenhouse gas emissions and obtain all necessary water licenses.
Climate Change
In its Assessment Report, the DPIE said while it recognised greenhouse gas emissions and climate change is "a matter of interest to many members of the broader community", because the majority (98 per cent) of emissions generated by the project would arise from consumption of coal by end users overseas it would remain consistent with the state's emissions reduction targets.
"The project's emissions have been accounted for in the NSW GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions projections in the NSW Government's Net Zero Plan," the report states.
"The Department accepts that the project is consistent with the objectives of Australia's Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan and the NSW Government's Strategic Statement on Coal Exploration and Mining in NSW (2020), which recognise that in the short to medium term there will still be a strong global demand for thermal coal."
Economic Impact
In addition, the report stated that allowing the project to go ahead would have major economic benefits for the local area and region, including the continued direct employment for an average of 600 people at the mine over the project life.
The project would also support approximately 450 direct/indirect full-time equivalent jobs in the Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter local government areas as well as 650 jobs per year in the wider Hunter Valley, and 440 jobs in NSW over its lifespan.
The report stated that MACH has also offered to enter into planning agreements with Muswellbrook Shire Council and Upper Hunter Shire Council to provide contributions towards community enhancement projects, with contributions of $20 million to Muswellbrook Shire Council and $6 million to Upper Hunter Shire Council.
According to the report, both Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter Shire Councils have agreed in principle to the proposed planning agreements, but in its submission to the DPIE Upper Hunter Shire Council said its willingness to enter into a planning agreement "in no way implies its support for the proposed development".
"Council is concerned that the proposed development will only exacerbate the existing air quality issues in the Upper Hunter, putting at further risk the health of the community and the environment," Upper Hunter Shire Council general manager Greg McDonald wrote in the council's submission.
"Council objects to the Mount Pleasant Optimisation Project because of the project's multiple and unacceptable impacts to Aberdeen and the project's intolerable greenhouse gas emissions."
In its submission to the DPIE, Muswellbrook Shire Council did not support or oppose the project, but raised concerns about potential impacts to air quality, housing affordability, noise and seismic activity as well as potential damage to Kayuga Cemetery from blasting activities.
Muswellbrook Council general manager Fiona Plesman also raised concerns about the potential impact to Upper Hunter communities from the "prospect of the coal mine industry contracting as a result of declining global resource demand".
"While communities have benefited from the expansion of the coal industry through the creation of jobs and the investment in economies, an abrupt and/or unplanned transition would have resounding social and economic impacts on the region and the state," Ms Plesman said.
The development application will now be forwarded to the NSW Independent Planning Commission for final approval.