Independent Planning Commission rubs out Southern Highlands coal mine
A controversial coal mine planned for the Southern Highlands has been rejected by the state’s Independent Planning Commission because its potential impacts were found to be too significant to be reasonably managed.
The commission on Tuesday knocked back plans by Hume Coal to develop a $533 million underground mine 7 kilometres from the town of Moss Vale and an associated Berrima rail loop project.
A file picture of coking coal. The Southern Highlands mine proposed to dig 50 million tonnes of coal over 19 years. Credit:Bloomberg
The mine, proposed by Korean steel giant Posco, would have transported coking coal to Port Kembla for export.
In rejecting the project, the commission found the plans did not “achieve an appropriate balance between relevant environmental, economic and social considerationsâ€.
“The impacts of the project cannot be reasonably and satisfactorily avoided, mitigated and managed through conditions,†the commission said.
Rod Coyle, a project manager for Hume Coal said the company was “disappointed in the result and will review the report and consider its optionsâ€.
Unlike many coal mines proposed in NSW, the project received negative assessments from the state government.
In 2018, the Planning Department found the mine’s groundwater effects “would be the most significant for any mining project that has ever been assessed in NSWâ€.
The commission also noted a whole-of-government assessment by the department as recently as June had found the project not to be in the public interest and should be refused. Others objecting included the Wingecarribee Shire Council and the local community including celebrities such as Nicole Kidman.
Concerns included the mine’s projected greenhouse gas emissions, risks to surface water, including to Sydney’s drinking water catchment area, effects on local Aboriginal and historic heritage and “ongoing stress and disharmony associated with the projectâ€, the commission said.
It noted the main factors supporting the mine were economic, including jobs and benefits for local business, and efforts Hume Coal had proposed to avoid subsidence and other environmental impacts.
“Based on the potential for long-term and irreversible impacts, and the impacts of the project on the social and environmental values of the region, the project is not in the public interest,†the IPC’s three commissioners concluded.
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Peter Hannam writes on environment issues for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.