Issue 161 3 April 2019
Your independent community newspaper - Ph: 4325 7369
Wallarah 2 Land and Environment Court appeal dismissed
Mr Barry O’Farrell and Mr Alan Hayes (centre) with four Liberal politicians promising to stop Wallarah 2 in 2011
T
he Australian Coal Alliance (ACA) is considering its options after the Land and Environment Court ruled out its appeal against the Wallarah 2 coal mine. The community based group has fought for 20 years against the proposal by the South Korean governmentowned mining company, KORES, to put a longwall coal mine in the Central Coast’s major water catchment
of the Yarramalong and Dooralong valleys. A challenge to the validity of approval, on errors of law, was lodged with the Land and Environment Court in April, 2018, however, the court dismissed the challenge on March 22. ACA campaign Director, Alan Hayes, said: “Although we are disappointed with the decision, the ACA is still moving forward and currently considering the options available to us.” One of the campaign’s strongest supporters,
Wyong MP, David Harris, said it was one of his greatest disappointments that, after such a long campaign, it now looked like Wyong Coal (the Australian arm of KORES) could get its final approval and that the Liberal government did a backflip and changed its mind to allow the mine. “There’s still a few hoops to jump through and we will keep fighting,” he said, “because this will have quite a profound effect.” CFMEU NSW Mining and Northern Energy
District President, Peter Jordan, said the court decision should clear the way for the mine to proceed. “Now let’s get on with it,” he said. “Any further legal interventions to stop or delay this development are ideologically motivated and what our industry needs is fair rules that are consistently applied to give operators, investors and workers some certainty.” It is the security of the catchment and water supply to some
350,000 Central Coast people that the ACA is trying to protect from contamination from the mine. “If we lose our water supply from the water catchment, we do not have the luxury of another catchment area, and the distribution from the Mardi Dam to holding weirs and/or dams, and to Mangrove Dam, will be jeopardised,” ACA Director Alan Hayes said. “The new Mardi to Warnervale pipeline, like all other distribution pipelines from Mardi
Photo: Alan Hayes
Dam, are dependent upon the Central Coast’s major water catchment not being compromised by mining.” Hayes said more than half the water in the dams supplying the Central Coast come from aquifers in the valleys where the mine will be located.
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Source: Interview Mar 27 Media statement Mar 31 Alan Hayes, ACA Interview Apr 1 Wyong MP David Harris Media release Mar 23 CFMEU Mining & Energy Journalist Sue Murray