The Bylong Valley Protection Alliance (BVPA) has successfully bid to join proceedings in KEPCO's appeal against the Independent Planning Commission's rejection of the proposed Bylong coal mine.
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Last September the IPC refused the project for reasons including that future generations will bear the costs - environmental, agricultural and heritage - for today's economic benefits.
KEPCO applied to the NSW Land and Environment Court for the review on December 13. And earlier this year outlined their case for a judicial review of the IPC decision and that the IPC erred because it should only have considered if the proposal would maintain or enhance the environment's health, diversity or productivity for future generations.
In February, the BVPA - represented by the Environmental Defenders Office - applied to join the Land and Environment Court proceedings, with the IPC not taking an active role in defending the judicial review.
BVPA president, Phillip Kennedy, welcomed the court's decision to enable the alliance to do more than "sitting and watching on the sidelines".
"This is great news because we need to preserve agricultural land more than ever right now," he said.
"This means the court can hear first hand evidence from us. We can cross examine KEPCO if we're there at the coal face, so to speak, rather than sitting and watching on the sidelines.
"We should be heard, because this decision is directly affecting us.
"It's always been a David vs Goliath battle, with governments supporting Goliath.
"Particularly the State Government appears to want to turn NSW into little more than a cleared patch of land.
"We need to preserve agricultural land for longevity, not destroy it for a temporary coal mine."
The Independent Planning Commission said it cannot take an active role in the case because of the Hardiman principle of administrative law, which is intended to preserve the impartiality of decision-makers.
The IPC is "not defending the matter because a successful KEPCO appeal would see the Bylong project referred back to the IPC", the commission said.
The case will be heard in the NSW Land and Environment Court during August 24-27 of this year.
