Not willing to sit on the fence, chamber members voted on a motion this week to deliver publicly and/or present a letter to Whitehaven Coal chief executive Paul Flynn stating the Chamber of Commerce understood the importance of the local employer and the Maules Creek mine project to the district.

Chamber president Ann Luke handed the document to Mr Flynn at a site visit on Tuesday.

The letter outlined the benefits already flowing to the community and regional economy from the construction phase of the Maules Creek project and the chamber’s confidence in the long-term benefits during the life of the mine.

Stripes Engineering, which installed the water supply at the mine, has logged 11,500 man-hours onsite since December 2013 and has employed up to 15-locally based staff at any one time.

“Further local expertise has been provided through other engineering, plumbing, electrical, drilling, excavations, haulage, freight, cranage and environmental and other services on and off site,” the chamber letter stated.

“Chamber members canvassed have reported an estimated $20 million in district in direct income from construction contracts and sub-contracts already this year which has been re-invested in the Gunnedah economy, families and community.

“We acknowledge and appreciate the local procurement policies implemented by Whitehaven Coal during the construction phase.”

The chamber said it was “fully aware” of the social and economic importance of the Maules Creek mine and that local businesses directly or indirectly contracted have already employed more staff, invested in plant, equipment and training and spent their money on local wages, goods and services.

The letter also acknowledged that business confidence and growth in the region had increased, along with new housing developments and businesses like Aldi opening.