With the Bulga community still celebrating its landmark victory in the Land and Environment Court this week, it was fitting the Nature Conservation Council of NSW launched its own report in town on the true cost of mining and gas projects in the Hunter.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The organisation’s chief executive officer Pepe Clarke ventured to Muswellbrook on Wednesday, not only meeting various media outlets but taking time to discuss a number of important issues with Muswellbrook Shire councillor Christine Phelps.
But, the topic of conversation always returned to the Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association’s merits appeal that halted the Warkworth open-cut mine extension project.
The development would have cut through the only remaining substantial stand of endangered Warkworth Sand Woodland, destroying almost 800 hectares of native habitat and expanding an existing mine closer to the small village.
“Earlier in the day I caught up with the folks from Bulga,” Mr Clarke told the Chronicle.
“It was a massive achievement for the residents to get the court to overturn the state government’s decision.
“Unfortunately, it was regrettable that the people of Bulga had to go to the courts to defend their community and their environment because the state government and the planning process had failed to do so.
“The tenacity they’ve shown in standing up for their community is inspiring.”
Mr Clarke said the new report – Economic assessment of environmentally damaging mining and gas developments in New South Wales – found resource companies were routinely exaggerating the projected economic and employment benefits of coal mining and gas projects while downplaying the health and environmental costs.
The information, put together by Economists at Large and The Australia Institute, reveals the true cost of seven NSW mining and gas projects currently in the assessment pipeline.
“This report lifts the lid on the ways that mining companies exaggerate the economic benefits and underestimate the environmental, social and economic costs of major mining and gas projects to gain approvals,” Mr Clarke said.
“Given the serious risks to human health, water and the natural environment, the use of false or misleading economic data to support development applications is simply immoral.
“Local communities like Bulga and Camberwell in the Hunter Valley are bearing the true cost of mining, with serious impacts on their well-being and way of life, while most of the profits flow overseas.”
