Queensland coal town Glenden spared from Glencore’s wrecking ball

Central Queensland coal mining town of Glenden faced demolition, until the state government stepped in, announcing new legislation.

Aerial shots of Glenden, in central Queensland. Picture: Isaac Regional Council

The central Queensland coal mining town of Glenden has been saved from the wrecking ball after intervention from the state government.

With a population of almost 500, the town faced demolition under a contractual agreement with miner Glencore which had an obligation to rehabilitate the site on which the town was built in the 1980s upon the closure of its nearby mine.

The looming demolition was despite another miner, QCoal, building a coal mine offering hundreds of jobs just 20km away.

Instead of using the town and its hundreds of empty dwellings, QCoal proposed to build its own camp on its mine site to house a fly-in-fly-out workforce.

The region’s council opposed the plans and won a four-year $600,000 court battle forcing QCoal to accommodate its workers in town.

But, weeks later, Resources Minister Scott Stewart granted QCoal preliminary approval to build the worker camp onsite, despite Glenden having hundreds of well-maintained empty homes.

Residents and the local council have campaigned against the closure.

On Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the town would be spared, but did not elaborate on what arrangement had been made other than that it would be through legislation.

“Our government will provide certainty for the future of the township of Glenden,” Ms Palaszczuk said in a speech at The Courier-Mail’s Queensland Bush Summit in Rockhampton.

“The end of the life of one mine does not mean the end of the life of others.

“We will introduce legislation next week to give all parties certainty in Glenden.”

Isaac Region mayor Anne Baker said she was advised of the decision by the premier shortly before the announcement.

“I have cried tears of relief during this morning’s call from the Premier advising of legislative change to save Glenden,” Ms Baker said.

“This renews our faith in government’s will to act and listen to the voice of mining communities.

“We are heartened by the speed at which this legislative change will occur.

“This is an acknowledgment by government that the future of Queensland mining communities matter and that the current system is flawed and needs to change.”

Ms Baker said she would await the detail of the arrangement.

“This critical step forward has to be a win for everyone involved, but as always the devil will be in the detail, and we look forward to working with government to get this right,” she said.