New Acland coal mine: Oakey businesses praise state government mining lease for project’s third stage

One of the most controversial mining projects in the Darling Downs has taken a key step towards fruition, leaving Oakey business owners feeling hopeful. Full details here:

Oakey businesswoman Vicki Reeves saw first-hand the impact that losing 300 mine workers had on her town.

“We’ve certainly missed them, we have lost a lot of everyday customers, it’s been sad to see,” the owner of Great Country Pies said on Saturday.

Ms Reeves is one of several local business owners praising the state government’s long-awaited decision on Friday to award a mining lease to New Hope for the third stage of its New Acland coal mine outside Oakey.

The move, which has been 15 years in the making, means the company just needs its water licence to move ahead.

Farmers and anti-coal activists have vowed to continue the fight.

It comes a year after New Hope laid off hundreds of workers in line with the end of the second stage, something Ms Reeves said was felt across the community.

Vicki Reeves, Great Country Pies bakery owner in Oakey. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“I know people personally who have had to leave town, take their kids out of the schools and sporting clubs, to find jobs elsewhere,” she said.

“It’s not just the businesses, it’s the whole town in general that has suffered.

“My boys used to play soccer in Oakey, but because a couple of families left they couldn’t form a team.”

Bi-Rite Home Appliances Oakey owner Andrew Langton said while the business community had been somewhat protected due to Covid-19, he saw the mine’s eventual approval as a major windfall for the town.

“The hope going forward is getting better and better, because it’s only one more approval they need,” he said.

“It’s been such a long, drawn-out process, not just for New Hope but the town itself.

“With Covid, no one could travel and it’s made people stay at home and spend money. In that situation, it’s a little bit insulated.

“If it wasn’t for that, the town would’ve noticed a big difference.”

Flick Food and Coffee Bar owner Clinton White, who opened his store late last year, said mine workers returning to Oakey would be a welcome boost to business.

“It’s great, the town is starting to die, the other cafe down the road closed, because there’s not enough people through,” he said.

“It will bring more people out here, which would be good.”

Andrew Langton, owner of Bi-Rite Oakey. Picture: Nev Madsen.