Council declines change to water agreement with New Acland owner
The owner of the embattled New Acland Coal Mine has failed to secure changes to its water agreement with the Toowoomba Regional Council.
Council
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New Hope Group had submitted a request to the TRC to vary its current contract, which allowed it to take up to 5.5 gigalitres of recycled water per year from the Wetalla water and sewage treatment plant for use at the mine as part of its operations.
But the councillors voted to decline the request on the agreement, which runs until 2037 and has further options in New Hope’s favour until 2052.
“Council declines the request from New Hope Group for a variation of the water supply agreement dated September 27, 2007,” the motion read on Wednesday.
It comes as the future of the mine remains in limbo, with its expansion now before the High Court of Australia, which has reserved its decision until a later date.
While discussion on the motion was done behind closed doors, The Chronicle understands New Hope wanted to reduce the agreement either by cost per unit, maximum annual allocation or contract length.
Deputy Mayor Geoff McDonald said the agreement involved non-potable water.
“It goes from the Wetalla water treatment plant and it’s treated to a level for industrial use,” he said.
“They have an ability to take 5.5 gigalitres, and they’ve never exercised that volume.”
Cr McDonald would not disclose why the council had declined the request.
It’s another blow for the company, after it cut 175 jobs from the mine just outside Oakey in line with diminishing coal deposits.
“More than $26 million in wages have been lost to the local economy,’ New Hope Group chief operating officer Andrew Boyd told The Chronicle earlier this month.
“We also have $60 million in machinery parked up, gathering cobwebs.”
