The Department of Planning has confirmed the Drayton South EIS has drawn 62 submissions, 251 form letters and more than 3500 emails in support of the project.
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A further 80 submissions have been received objecting to the proposed mine, with 10 government agencies commenting during the exhibition period which closed on June 19.
Muswellbrook Shire Council was granted an extension, submitting its concerns on June 24. Council’s General Manager, Steve McDonald, challenged Anglo American’s economic assessment.
“The financial viability of the project is almost entirely dependent upon the price of thermal coal,” Mr McDonald wrote.
He said the EIS assumes an increasing price of US$72 a tonne in 2016 and US$82 a tonne in 2017 when the projected contract price in 2017 is US$61 a tonne.
Muswellbrook Council also rejected the Drayton South offset strategy and challenged the accuracy of the 2012 traffic assessment in the EIS, calling on the Department of Planning to ask for a more up-to-date study.
Upper Hunter Shire Council noted in its submission, dated June 19, “the Council accepts the continued reality of mining in the Hunter but not at the expense of a strong and diverse agricultural sector …”
A form letter stamped “Drayton South, Letter of Support, EIS Period” was included in the submissions against which five pages, or 251 names, were attached.
Approximately 60 per cent of this group listed Muswellbrook as an address; a further 15 per cent listed Denman, Martindale, Bureen, Sandy Hollow or Gungal as an address.
The form letter stated, in part, “the Drayton South project will have no visual, air quality or dust impacts on neighbouring horse studs; noise Ievels [sic] will remain within existing background levels and land will be returned to grazíng farmland once mining is complete.”
The form letter of support went on to say “the Drayton South project is in the public interest and will deliver significant benefits to the community and the state of New South Wales.”
President of the Upper Hunter Winemakers Association, Brett Keeping, voiced his objection to the mine on June 19 saying it would “directly impact one of the Upper Hunter’s key vineyards, Hollydene (previously Arrowfield Wines) and the knock-on effect will damage the reputation of the Upper Hunter Wine Industry as a whole.”
NSW Resources and Energy Deputy Secretary, Kylie Hargreaves, wrote on June 26 “further information should be provided with respect to optimisation of rehabilitation options for the total area known as the Drayton complex, not just Drayton South, [but] the Division supports the project as a responsible utilisation of the State’s coal resources …”
President of the NSW Farmers Association, Fiona Simson, registered the Association’s objection on June 18, stating, in part, “we have numerous members in the area … likely to be affected by water issues, dust and noise impacts, visual impacts as well as significant impacts to property values.”
In a full-page ad that appeared on p.5 of Wednesday’s Hunter Valley News, Anglo American’s Coal CEO, Seamus French, registered his appreciation.
“During the recent public exhibition period thousands of positive public submissions were made to the Department of Planning and Environment,” he wrote, “[and] this is a tremendous endorsement …”
Mr French went on to say “over the past few months representatives from our Drayton workforce have been out and about talking to Hunter residents about how all industries in the Valley can coexist.”
Mr French concluded by inviting supporters to a barbecue paid for by Anglo American.
