In its submission on Wilpinjong’s 2011 application, council cited traffic counts showing 172 vehicle movements a day on the Ulan to Wollar east of Wilpinjong.

Council wants Wilpinjong to help pay to seal a 5.5 kilometre gravel section of the road from the mine entrance to Wollar.

However, at council’s open day last week, Wilpinjong environment and community manager Sean Cleary said figures used by Mid-Western Regional Council were taken from an environment assessment prepared for Wilpinjong as part of a 2010 application relating to the coal handling plant.

He said this was not relevant to the current application since work on the earlier project had finished.

Mr Cleary said the majority of traffic to the mine travelled on Ulan Road from Mudgee, Gulgong and surrounding areas, rather than via the Wollar Road.

Wilpinjong has asked council to withdraw its submission asking the Department of Planning not to make a decision on Wilpinjong’s application until the mine negotiates a voluntary planning agreement (VPA) with council to upgrade and maintain Ulan and Cope Roads and the Ulan-Wollar Road.

A report to council on Wednesday said mining and other operations had significantly increased the level of traffic on the Wollar-Ulan Road and council should no longer be wholly responsible for the upgrading of the road.

The number of trains from the mine would increase from an average of about five a day to six a day, with a proposed maximum of 10 per day.

While the report acknowledged the mines’ economic contribution to the region, it said mining also placed pressures on community resources and should make fair recompense. The May 2010 approval did not require the mine to contribute to upgrading the Ulan-Wollar Road and if this was not addressed in the current application, the financial burden for upgrading the road would fall on the community, the submission said.