Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council’s court win a blow for Wallarah 2 coal mine development

THE Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council has won a bid in the Land and Environment Court which will stop the Wallarah 2 coal mine in its tracks.

Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council Chief Executive Officer Sean Gordon and staff members promoting Darkinjung Open Day at Watanobbi

THE Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council has won a bid in the Land and Environment Court which will stop the Wallarah 2 coal mine in its tracks.

Darkinjung took to the court claiming the development application for the mine was invalid because the proponents did not have permission to use a parcel of land owned by Darkinjung for rail access.

It came on the same day as the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) handed down a finding that accepted the mine could cause environmental damage but left the door open for further assessment on economic grounds.

“This is a breakthrough for land rights in NSW and demonstrated that Aboriginal ownership cannot be treated lightly or taken for granted by private developers or the government,” Darkinjung chief executive Sean Gordon said.

Wallarah 2 coal mine protesters have gained great heart from the Planning Assessment Commission findings and the Land and Enviroment Court win.

“We warned repeatedly that failure to gain consent could be a problem and we were ignored.”

The Australian Coal Alliance has welcomed the decision.

“This decision gives the Liberal government the mechanism by which to honour their pre-election no ifs, no buts, a guarantee promise to the Central Coast community to stop the Wallarah 2 mine,” spokesman Alan Hayes said.

He said Planning Minister Pru Goward should reject the mine in light of the Darkinjung victory.

“This mine, which was always unwanted by the community, should be rejected by Planning Minister Pru Goward and the proponents should let commonsense prevail and abandon the project,” Mr Hayes said.

Greens spokeswoman Kate da Costa says the PAC findings are “damning” and should be used to halt the mine’s development.

The PAC report found the benefits claimed by the proponents were “not credible” and while there were significant environmental concerns, they also found there were sufficient economic benefits — including estimated royalty payments of $100-$200 million, and the direct employment of 300 staff — for the project to be further assessed.

Central Coast Greens spokeswoman Kate da Costa said the PAC findings were “damning”, especially in relation to the adverse impacts on water for the Central Coast and were alarmed the commissioners considered the impacts to be “manageable”.

“Precisely how the proponents can return impacted streams to an equivalent or better condition than their pre-subsidence condition is completely unclear to the Central Coast Greens, and we believe to be impossible,” Ms da Costa said.

“The Central Coast Greens call on the minister to honour the promise made before the last state election by Barry O”Farrell on behalf of his party, that this mine will not go ahead — no ifs, no buts”.