AFTER five long years in the approvals pipeline, Shenhua’s Watermark Coal Project is ready for a decision.
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The project faced its last approvals hurdle as the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) public meeting continued in Gunnedah on Thursday.
EDITORIAL: A case of five long buck-passing years
The PAC panel - chairwoman Lynelle Briggs, Jan Murrell and Joe Woodward – will make the final decision by the end of January that will go to the NSW Minister for Planning.
The meeting began Wednesday afternoon with none of the public protesting and march that marked Shenhua’s last PAC meeting in June.
But the emotion and the polarity of opinions has remained, with the pleas of farmers to leave the Liverpool Plains as it is, and the views of those who are seeking the economic, employment and social benefits they say the mine will bring.
Chinese company Shenhua made its move half a decade ago to seek approval for the open-cut coal mine planned for just west of Breeza.
The mine would be the 10th largest in NSW, producing up to 10 million tonnes of coal a year for 30 years.
The mine’s proposed location, adjacent to the fertile blacksoil farming district of the Liverpool Plains, has seen ferocious opposition from farmers.
Shenhua Australia chairman Liu Xiang told the panel yesterday the project had been subject to “unprecedented levels of scrutiny”.
He said Shenhua was proud of its environmental record, and had gone out of its way to ensure minimal impact on farmers.
“China is also a farming country,” Mr Xiang said.
“We have 750 million farmers. We understand the special connection between farmers and their work. There is a special legacy in this region and it must be protected.”
His words were echoed by Shenhua Watermark project manager Paul Jackson, who said ahead of the meeting yesterday Shenhua had shown “unequivocally” that the project struck the right balance between providing economic and social benefits and ensuring valuable agricultural production continued.
“The fact that an independent body and independent scientists have validated the diligent work we have done is a proud moment,” he said.
But the arguments have failed to sway many presenters at the meeting.
SOS Liverpool Plains made an impassioned plea to the panel yesterday, with women throughout the audience rising to have their say against the project’s impacts on soil, air, water, health, food production and property values.
Former independent politician Tony Windsor will have his say about groundwater impacts today, and the Caroona Coal Action Group’s Tim Duddy argued strongly against the project.
Meals on Wheels president Colleen Fuller spoke in support of the mine.
“I cannot believe we are standing here today and asking Shenhua to withdraw,” she said.
“Shenhua has done so much more for this community than any other mining company have ever done.”
The meeting finished on Thursday.
