QCoal wins Supreme Court appeal against Isaac council on Byerwen workers camp

The fate of a proposed workers’ camp at a Bowen Basin mine site is still up in the air after the supreme court overturned an earlier decision to ban the camp. Here’s what happens now.

Byerwen Coal Mine in Central Queensland

The fate of a workers’ camp in the Bowen Basin remains in limbo after the Supreme Court ruled an earlier decision banning the development was a mistake.

The planning scheme purgatory started in 2018 when QCoal submitted an application to expand its existing camp at the Byerwen mine and add permanent accommodation options.

About 600 workers operate the mine and the expanded camp would provide up to 600 rooms.

Isaac Council rejected the application, arguing the company could house its workers in nearby Glenden and a permanent camp would drain life away from the small town.

Judge William Everson from the Planning and Environment Court sided with the council on November 1, 2021 but the company took the matter to the supreme court, which has now ruled the issue needed to be reconsidered.

The outcome centres on the proper interpretation of the Nebo planning scheme and whether 98 per cent of QCoal’s workforce would prefer to live at the camp rather than Glenden, a point Judge Everson leaned on to deliver his 2021 verdict.

Supreme Court Justice Philip McMurdo said Judge Everson had erred in this regard.

The Byerwen Coal Mine in Central Queensland

“QCoal did not contend that 98 per cent of its current and prospective workforce would in all likelihood prefer to reside at the mine,” Justice McMurdo wrote.

“QCoal did contend that it was unreasonable to expect it to locate its entire workforce in Glenden, as opposed to only those workers choosing to live there. But that was quite a different issue.

“The preferences of QCoal’s workforce would matter to QCoal.

“But the preferences of a certain percentage of the workforce were irrelevant to any issue, let alone being an essential plank of QCoal’s case.”

Justice Philip McMurdo said there was no finding of the “reasonableness or otherwise of requiring QCoal to locate the entirety of its workforce in or adjoining Glenden”.

“The issues for determination were not whether QCoal’s workforce should be nonresidential or whether the workers should have shorter shifts,” Justice McMurdo said.

“It was whether in the way the mine was and would be operated, it was reasonable to expect the applicants to accommodate their non-residential workers in Glenden.

“In my respectful opinion, the judge thereby erred in law.”

Justice McMurdo redirected the matter back to the Planning and Environment Court for another hearing.