The Mid-Western Regional Council has called for a moratorium on approval of new coal mines or expansion of existing mines until the State Government has completed a study into how the region will cope with growth that the mines will generate.
Councillors also voted on Wednesday to ask the Prime Minister to declare the Mid-Western Region a “regional growth area” so that the it will be eligible for Federal Government funding for infrastructure, and to visit the region to see the effects of mining development.
Mid-Western Regional Council will also write to Minister for Housing Tanya Plibersek seeking a share of $200 million in funding recently announced for housing development in regional growth.
The unanimous vote was prompted by a recent report by Mid-West Regional Council general manager Warwick Bennett, calling for a regional strategic study into the impact of proposed coal developments including Cobbora, Bylong and the Centennial Coal mine at Running Stream.
Mr Bennett has written to Department of Planning director general Sam Haddad calling for a study into the effects on water, demand for housing and medical services, and the extra pressure on transport, roads and community infrastructure.
In his letter, Mr Bennett said Mid-Western Regional Council was not opposed to coal mining but was concerned there was a “huge void” of quality information with which to assess the cumulative effects of such development.
Mr Bennett said a recently announced state-wide strategic study into the coal industry would not address specific regional issues.
“It is time the State Government gave more consideration to the long-term sustainability rather than short term financial gains,” he said.
“For example, we have a huge void of information about water.
“It is not just the effect of one mine taking lots of water, but the cumulative effect of lots of new and expanding mines taking the water,” Mr Bennett said.
“We have the reality of towns that are going to be removed from the maps forever.
“What is the impact on local schools and the surrounding rural community on the fact that Wollar may disappear and in effect Ulan not longer has any people living there?
“We will have more employees than ever coming from everywhere and nowhere to live. Are schools in our towns capable of taking more children?
“We know medical services are over stretched now. What do we need for our roads and bridges? What about community infrastructure?”
Cr Elwyn Lang, who moved the motion at Wednesday’s meeting, also stressed that he was not opposed to mining.
But Cr Lang said as a “passionate Mudgee-ite” he was concerned about the long-term effects of expansion of mines in the area, and in particular the implications of the Cobbora Coal Project’s demands for water.
“We have the most beautiful valley in NSW, but I believe in the next 20 years we could be sitting in a big coal hole, with no water, no grapes, no water licences, no agriculture – dead in the water,” he said.
Cr Lang said that he had left a recent Cudgegong Water Users group meeting on the Cobbora Coal Project’s water demands feeling “sick to the stomach”.
“I’m not saying stop mining,” he said. “They have done a huge amount for Mudgee.
“But we have a $280 million tourism industry that could be gone in five years or 10 years. We need to know what is happening.”
Cr Peter Shelley, would seconded the motion, said the council had a responsibility to consider the future of the area beyond the time that the mines would last.
“In 40 or 50 years, the mines will be gone,” he said.
“We have got to look after the existing businesses. There must be a balance.”
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