The decision was handed down at Gulgong RSL, where all five panel members were in favour of a resolution calling for the development application not to proceed.

After hearing from six speakers, the panel went into a private discussion before making the decision.

Panel member and Mid-Western Regional councillor John Weatherley called for the motion. It was seconded immediately by fellow panelist and councillor Esme Martens.

Chair Gabrielle Kibble said the panel had heard from Mid-Western Council, The Mac Services Group and the Gulgong community on two occasions as well as receiving submissions from all parties.

She said council’s legal advice was “clear and unambiguous” that the development on 2 Black Lead Lane, Gulgong, was prohibited.

Panel member Ruth Fagan noted the amount of community response and that The Mac suggested their development application was permissible. 

She said Gulgong would now have the ability to continue its natural growth.

The Mac Services Group managing director, Peter McCann, said he was disappointed with the Joint Regional Planning Panel’s decision.

“We will be reviewing our options moving forward. We believe our development will contribute to the ongoing social and economic sustainability of Gulgong, the Mid-Western region and the wider state of NSW,” he said.  

The Mac Gulgong development manager, Geoff Campbell, reiterated those sentiments. 

“We still believe in the benefits of our proposal to the Gulgong community,” he said.

The Mac Services Group may look to appeal the decision. They currently own the land originally set down for the $26 million development.

Mid-Western Regional Council mayor, Des Kennedy, described the decision as a good result for Gulgong.

“To have so many people here in one big hit would upset the town’s culture,” he said.

“I’m smart enough to recognise we need temporary workers’ accommodation but don’t need it close to town.”

Council successfully argued temporary workers accommodation could be defined as “tourist and visitor accommodation” and is a prohibited use on the Black Lead site.

The Mac believes demand for short and long-term accommodation can not be met through the conventional housing market.   

Year of toil ends for Kruezen

Twelve months ago the world came down on Black Lead Lane resident Paul Kruezen as he learnt a 400-bed workers’ village would be surrounding his Gulgong property. 

When a development application for that village was turned down on Wednesday, Mr Kruezen had the world lifted from his shoulders.

“This is not only a victory for Gulgong but for NSW,” he said.

It is of Mr Kruezen’s belief that if the $26 million development had gone ahead, a precedent would have been set for regional towns across the state.

“Narrabri will be under the microscope now to see how it is really going [with its mining camp],” he said.

Mr Kruezen said it was fantastic that Gulgong could continue to see natural growth.

“So many people in the community have worked towards this in the past 12 months. As a community we have worked on natural growth for a long time,” Mr Kruezen said.

He believes there were many mistakes in The Mac Gulgong submission and in turn made it “not too hard to overturn”.

Should The Mac Services group wish to appeal the decision, Mr Kruezen believes this could only help the community’s message.

“The information then spreads wider and people will realise what is going on,” he said.

With multiple mining developments on the cards across the Mid-Western, Warrumbungle and Dubbo council areas, Mr Kruezen said this would help towns like Gulgong grow naturally without mining camps.