FEARS about damage to the Hunter River and the health of Camberwell village residents have prompted the NSW Planning Assessment Commission to refuse a coalmining application near Glennies Creek, outside Singleton.
It is the second time the commission has refused a Hunter coalmining application, the first being the Bickham proposal, near Scone, which was rejected in May 2010.
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The rejection has opened the door for the possible return of Camberwell Common to the community.
A community trust had managed the land since the 1880s before former lands minister Tony Kelly controversially handed its control to Ashton Coal last April.
Under its South East open-cut application, Ashton Coal wanted to develop a mine south of Camberwell to extract an estimated 16.5million tonnes of coal a year for seven years.
Because Ashton was a noted donor to the Labor Party, the former government was obliged to refer the proposal to the commission.
Against a strong push by the Department of Planning to have the project approved despite all the concerns, the commission has found that “on balance the benefits of the project do not outweigh the combined risks from the project’s potential impacts on Glennies Creek and its associated water resources and its potential dust and noise emissions”.
The Department of Planning argued that all the real and potential negative effects of the mine could be “adequately mitigated, managed, offset and/or compensated for’’.
But the commission concluded that “the Glennies Creek water resource is a critically important part of the Hunter regulated system”.
The NSW Office of Water expressed grave fears about “uncontrolled drawdowns” on the Hunter River and its “connected alluviums” and the possible creation of a long-term source of salinity into the river.
The office of water did not believe its fears had been addressed, and the commission said there was no evidence to suggest the office of water was wrong other than “assertions by the proponent and the Department [of Planning] that they and their experts disagree with the office of water’s position”.
“Given this situation, the commission has little option but to find that the level of uncertainty is such that the potential risks to the water resource must be considered of paramount concern,” the commission wrote.
The NSW Health Department opposed Ashton’s plan.
“NSW Health considers that it is unacceptable for the residents of Camberwell Village to be exposed to further additional PM10 [fine dust] concentrations and additional noise,” the report stated.
“NSW Health concludes that the ... proposed and existing coalmines around Camberwell would have an unacceptable cumulative impact on the human health and well-being of the residents of Camberwell village. ‘‘NSW Health indicated that on public health grounds it cannot support the project.”
Camberwell residents and Hunter River irrigators welcomed the decision.
‘‘I think it was the only decision they [the Planning Assessment Commission] could make because it would have been an absolute disaster,’’ Camberwell resident Wendy Bowman said.
Hunter Wine Industry Association treasurer and celebrated vigneron Bruce Tyrrell said the decision represented a significant cultural shift.
‘‘All mining was good 10years ago – if someone wanted to dig something up then whacko, let them go because it meant more jobs,’’ he said.
‘‘Now we are starting to think longer term. What’s left over has to be useable.’’
An Ashton Coal spokesman said the company would appeal against the decision, which had jeopardised 50 jobs at its Camberwell mine.
‘‘The NSW Department of Planning and infrastructure made an addendum submission to the commission recommending the project be approved. [The commission] did not consider this submission in its determination process for the Ashton project,’’ the spokesman said.
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