Lithgow: Angus Place Colliery plans to recommence mining
Owners of a coal mine west of Sydney plans to start operating again for the first time in five years - and increase its extraction rate by half a million tonnes - despite stiff opposition from environmental groups.
The Blue Mountains News
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Blue Mountains News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Bikie news: Rebels bikie Chris Rymer ‘still an active gang member’
- Bathurst: Mitchell Hussey accused of leading cops on 125km car pursuit
An existing coal mine near Lithgow has plans to restart operations after five years - including increasing its extraction rate by half a million tonnes a year - but is facing vocal opposition from several environmental groups.
The Angus Place Colliery, in Lidsdale, near Lithgow, has been in ‘care and maintenance’ mode since 2015, but operators Centennial Coal want to get the plant back up and running.
The company also wishes to extend its mining area by almost 100 hectares, and add 150 full-time workers to the operation.
There are also plans to increase the amount of coal it mines from 4 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes each year.
They also plan to develop an underground roadway connecting Angus Place with the Springvale Mine and to develop additional mine shafts.
However, the plans have been met with fierce opposition from several environmental groups in the area.
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW said they weren’t satisfied that the “impacts of mining activities could be managed and mitigated to an acceptable degree”.
“The mining footprint must be significantly lessened and mining methods reduced in intensity to protect Carne Creek, pagodas, cliffs, and the nationally endangered swamps of the proposal area,” former chief executive Kate Smolski said.
“Due to environmental threats, we urge the rejection of this proposal.”
The Blue Mountains Conservation Society raised issues of waterway pollution, streambed cracking, and shrub swamp desiccation as some of the reasons they were opposed to the proposal.
The Lithgow Environment Group is also opposed to the proposal.
The Australia Institute, a Canberra-based think tank, said “the economic assessment of the Angus Place coal project heavily overstates the benefits of the project and at the same time understates the costs”.
“The cost benefit analysis makes basic errors in economic theory and fails to comply with state and federal guidelines,” a spokesperson said.
“It is impossible to assess whether, and under what circumstances, the project will be able to provide the jobs and royalties claimed by the proponents.”
In a statement, Centennial Coal’s Executive GM of External Relations, Katie Brassil, said the colliery had taken steps to minimise any environmental impact.
“The project has made some key changes to minimize surface impacts, including reducing the number of longwalls from 19 to 15, reducing the lengths of longwalls to provide an offset of at least 1000m from the adjacent Gardens of Stone National Park, and shortening longwalls to avoid undermining Trail 6 Swamp,” she said.
“We’re also proposing to transfer coal to the Springvale pit top using underground conveyors, reducing the requirement for haul road use.”
Lithgow Council unanimously voted to support the project when they were first proposed back in 2014.
“These mines have terrific economic benefits to the local area and also to the region,” former mayor Maree Statham said.
“The 2011 Census revealed that 11.6 per cent of total employment within the Lithgow LGA was provided through the mining industry compared to just 0.6 per cent across NSW.
“This indicates that any reduction in mining industry employment will have a very significant impact on the Lithgow LGA economy and community wellbeing.”
The Lithgow Business Association also supported the project, saying that if it “was not able to continue there would be a significant negative impact in our area with many jobs lost, and the economic viability of many small local businesses could be threatened”.