The Bylong coal mine was recently knocked back due to "unacceptable impacts on groundwater, heritage and some of Australia's best agricultural soils", while it's affect on climate change was also noted.

Liverpool Plains farmer Hugh Price said the rejected Bylong mine was "strikingly similar" to the Shenhua proposal.

"The criteria used to reject Bylong almost describes the issues we have here word-for-word," Mr Price said.

READ ALSO

"You can't have it both ways. They can't both be right."

The Rocky Hill coal mine near Gloucester was blocked earlier this year by the NSW Land and Environment Court, which cited its contribution to climate change as a key reason for refusing the application.

"That's pretty telling - had [Shenhua's] application gone in today, it wouldn't gone this far," Mr Price said.

"It looks pretty out of step with what's happening now."

Want to have you say? Click here to write a letter to the editor

The Shenhua mine gained state approved in 2015, but the company must still complete water and biodiversity studies before it can apply for a mining licence.

Caroona Coal Action Group (CCAG) chair Susan Lyle said "all the things that led to these mines being rejected, we see here".

"If this mine was going up for approval today, it wouldn't get off square one," she said. "It's also interesting that climate change was one of the reasons the mines were knocked back in both cases."

CCAG will meet with the NSW Planning Minister next month, to discuss a study that suggests the water modelling used in Shenhua's planning is wrong.