QCoal’s push to expand workers camp at Byerwen mine rejected

A mining company fighting to house its workers onsite may have “exaggerated” the imposition of instead sending them to a nearby northern town which relies on its business, a court has found. DETAILS.

Byerwen coal mine is about to start production.

A proposal to expand a miner’s camp at Sutter has been rejected for the second time after a judge found workers could be housed at nearby Glenden.

QCoal made a development application in 2019 to grow its existing temporary camp at Byerwen Coal Mine on Wollombi Rd to a permanent set up accommodating up to 600 workers and 650 rooms.

Isaac Regional Council rejected the proposal arguing it would render the township unviable.

QCoal took their case to the Planning and Environment Court where in November 2021 Judge William Everson sided with the council finding there was a “strong theme” across the Mackay Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan, Nebo Planning Scheme and Isaac Planning Scheme “to consolidate urban growth and efficiently utilise land and infrastructure”.

He determined there was “no doubt that there is a significant need for accommodation for both existing and prospective workers employed at the mine”.

“What is contentious is whether (QCoal) have discharged the onus of proving that this need cannot be met in Glenden,” Judge Everson said.

Plan for a Worker Camp at Suttor to house workers from the Byerwen Coal Project.

Byerwen mine is expected to produce up to 10 million tonnes of hard coking coal per year with a life span of more than 50 years and at full production the workforce is anticipated to be between 850 and 900 employees.

However, the approval of the mine in 2014 was secured on the basis QCoal “would provide temporary and permanent housing for the mine workforce in Glenden and the workers would be transported by bus to and from Glenden”.

QCoal took its fight to the Supreme Court where Justice Philip McMurdo found Judge Everson had “erred in law” in dismissing the appeal and sent the case back to the Planning and Environment Court.

During a remitted hearing under Judge Everson, QCoal argued it was “unreasonable and impracticable” to house workers at Glenden as the majority were on 12.5 hours shifts and would “effectively be subject to a 14-hour day … when commuting times are taken into account”, a recent court judgment stated.

Judge Everson said this “appears an exaggeration” given it was previously stated to be less than 30 minutes each way.

Byerwen Coal Mine in Central Queensland

QCoal also suggested reducing the proposed development to 450 workers and to either acquire industrial land at Glenden from the council, negotiate to acquire a vacant camp facility at Glenden from Glencore or construct a works camp to accommodate 200 people on land it currently owns in Glenden”.

“I have already found that the consequences of approving the proposed development would be detrimental to the ongoing utilisation of significant social and administrative infrastructure which is already located in Glenden and not an appropriate planning outcome,” Judge Everson said.

He added QCoal’s own evidence at the remitted hearing revealed “significant opportunities to accommodate workers from the mine, regardless of the length of their shifts, at up to three nominated sites within Glenden” and found “no meaningful steps” had been taken to develop any of these options since he dismissed the case the first time.

“Furthermore, no evidence has emerged of any serious proposal to acquire any right to develop a Works Camp adjacent to Glenden,” Judge Everson said.

Judge Everson found “it is still reasonable” to expect QCoal to house non-residential workers in or adjacent to Glenden.

“I make this finding cognisant of my previous finding about the utilisation of infrastructure in Glenden by workers living in Works Camps,” he said.

“I make this finding even if a 14-hour absence from accommodation will now be required for a worker working a 12.5 hour shift at the mine, should the worker be accommodated in Glenden.

“I am not persuaded that the relatively short bus trip to and from a Works Camp or other accommodation facility in or adjacent to Glenden creates an unreasonable impost from a fatigue management perspective or otherwise.”

IRC Mayor Anne Baker said the decision “reinforced what we’ve said all along”.

“Our Isaac communities, like Glenden, have a right to a sustainable future,” she said.

“Major industry investment in our region needs to deliver social benefits and opportunities along with the economic benefits.

“We can’t have one without the other.

“Housing a workforce in a community that is already established makes sense and it’s morally right.”