There are growing fears about lost opportunities for the Gunnedah region as doubts are raised over the future of the Shenhua Watermark coal mine.
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The state government is in negotiations with the Chinese company to buy back part of Shenhua’s exploration licence, which may shrink the mine footprint, after paying $220 million to BHP Billiton to walk away from its Caroona mine because of farming risks.
The buyback has led to questions about setting a precedent for the Shenhua mine and raised doubts about its future, as well as the impact it could have on the Gunnedah community if it too ceases to go ahead.
Gunnedah Miners’ Support Group President Colleen Fuller said while she was “never happy” with the BHP mine, she said it would be a “golden opportunity lost” for Gunnedah if the Shenhua project was stopped.
“There’s so many young people that are waiting for these jobs and I know people who have put their names down for employment,” she said.
“I’m very sorry it’s come to this. I’d be very disappointed if we lose it.”
While Ms Fuller said a smaller mine would be better than nothing, if it didn’t go ahead, the community would lose out.
“So much money is being given by these companies to the community and I think it’s tragic to think we’ll have that loss,” she said.
Gunnedah First National Real Estate’s Mike Brady said if the government blocks the Shenhua mine it may be a “retrograde step” and raised questions about the effect it could have on hospitals, schools and other services.
Even if the government buys back only a portion of the Shenhua licence, he said it’s the taxpayer that is likely to lose out given the huge amount of money the miner spent to purchase farms – thought be around $1 billion.
“If there is seen to be sensibilities to some of the land because it’s impractical to mine that area to protect water and prime agricultural land and it’s not viable, that would be something that needs to be looked at. The price the land would be bought back – some of that land was bought triple the agricultural value and farmers aren’t going to pay $5-6000 an acre,” he said.
“If they buy it back, there is a loss factor to the taxpayer.” Mr Brady said while we need to protect the food bowl and water, the state government needs to “balance reason, science and accountability for Australian taxpayers, rather than allow noisy minorities to dictate policy for the greater community”.
