Whitehaven scores legal victory for Narrabri expansion

A NSW court has dismissed a request from the Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action to hinder development work on expanding Whitehaven Coal’s expansion plans.

Whitehaven Coal has scored a legal victory after a NSW court dismissed a legal challenge to the company’s plan to expand its Narrabri underground coal mine.

The energy group secured NSW independent Planning Commission permission in 2022 for the project that will extend Narrabri’s lifespan by 13 years to 2044, infuriating environmental advocates which had mounted an aggressive campaign against the project that they said would exacerbate climate change.

Opponents were able to block development albeit temporarily when Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, a community activist group, sought a judicial review of the IPC’s ruling as they sought to argue whether the commission gave sufficient credence to the impact of the expansion on the climate.

In a victory for Whitehaven, however, a NSW court on Wednesday dismissed the challenge from Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action.

“Our consistent position has been that this legal claim was without merit. Comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the Narrabri Stage 3 Extension Project was undertaken by the IPC, including in relation to climate change related matters,” Whitehaven said in a statement.

“High quality thermal coal has an important role to play in providing energy security during the decarbonisation transition.”

Fiona Lee, a spokeswoman for the Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, said the organisation was disappointed by the ruling.

“Sadly, this shows that planning decisions today are out of step with community expectations because approving high-emitting projects is exposing communities to more extreme impacts from climate change,” said Ms Lee.

“We believe it is unreasonable for planning authorities to approve projects with such a massive climate footprint at a time when greenhouse gas emissions must be rapidly reduced to limit the devastating impacts of global warming.”

While the ruling is a boost for Whitehaven, it does not completely clear all legal challenges to Narrabri.

Whitehaven still requires approval from the federal environment minister.

The Environment Council of Central Queensland Inc, a Green advocacy group, has challenged an assessment from environmental Minister Tanya Plibersek that the third stage expansion of Narrabri would not be a substantial cause of the physical effects of climate change on World Heritage properties and other matters of national environmental significance.

The challenge is expected to be heard in federal court in September.

Should Whitehaven overcome that challenge, Ms Plibersek would then be able to rule on whether to issue the federal green light.