Centennial Coal’s Myuna Coal Mine - Modification 2 proposal

Centennial Coal’s Myuna Coal Mine - Modification 2 proposal aims to haul 1million tonnes of coal/year along Wangi and Wilton Roads as the proposed route between Myuna Colliery and Cooranbong Entry Site. The proposal is on exhibition until 27 Aug.

Greg Piper MP has created an e-petition which states “NSW Planning will soon consider an application by Centennial Coal to truck one million tonnes of coal per year over busy public roads in western Lake Macquarie. This will create 62,400 truck movements a year, or one every three minutes during the specified times of operation. This must not be allowed to happen.”

There are two ways to make a comment.

1. Sign the e-petition put forward by Greg Piper MP -Stop Centennial Coal putting 62,000 coal trucks a year on public roads in Western Lake Macquarie

which requests the Minister for Planning and Legislative Assembly to:

• Reject Centennial Coal’s application to move a million tonnes of coal a year over public roads in Lake Macquarie;

• Ensure that future applications to allow coal haulage on public roads in Lake Macquarie are rejected, except for when there may be an emergency short-term need to provide ongoing power generation.

Petition link:https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/pages/epetitions-list.aspx

2. Make a Submission to the NSW Government's Major projects portal. You have to create an account, which is easy and then there’s a space for comments or you can just tick a box. 

https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/35026

From the Myuna colliery Modification report

A vision for Bath Street

Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper commissioned a landscape architect to produce some concept designs for what bath St could look like.

Blackalls Against the Mines (BAM) news

An informative newsletter was recently circulated and included concerns about the Centennial complaint handling policy, Mandalong haul road, the Cenntenial sale to Banpu and the following outcome of the auger mine issue.

Greg Piper’s Private Member’s Bill to clarify the State Environmental Planning Policy 2007(mining) with regard to the ban on Open Cut Mining in Lake Macquarie has been defeated in Parliament.Labor voted as a block and the Opposition didn’t attend so as not to ‘offend the miner’. There was however a change to the legislation introduced by Kristina Kenneally in late 2009, that leaves the door open for ‘above ground auger mining’.

On this matter BAM has written to all local State MPs to get support for Mr Piper’s Bill and to clarify the Government’s position on Open-cut mining in our area. Not one of them supported Mr Piper and Matthew Morris, Member for Charlestown, was a government;s speaker to oppose the Bill. Paul’s Moors is now the President of BAM and can be contacted on moors@aapt.net.au.

Blackalls Against the Mine update, The finish line is in sight,

www.bam.org.au
You may remember:
1. Frank Sartor's 2007 promise to permanently ban new open-cut mines in the Lake Macquarie area.
2. Frank Sartor's claim that he changed the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) to enable that promise.
3. Centennial's attempt to circumvent this promise with its Olstan Project.
4. The State Government's refusal to rule on the validity of Centennial?s proposal.
5. The State Government ignoring our two letters to them transmitting the motions moved at BAM's last two meetings.
6. The State Government's recent introduction of a new change to the SEPP, which in our view made it easier to circumvent Sartor's promise.

From the above it is clear that the SEPP is no use in giving the protection Sartor promised. It can be changed at the Planning Minister's whim.
To give us better protection, our local State member, Greg Piper has prepared a Private Members Bill which, if passed will put the open-cut ban into Law as an Act and not just planning policy. This means that if passed, it cannot be changed at the whim of a minister. It will require another piece of legislation, and its attendant parliamentary debate to change.

The essence of the bill is on better definitions of underground and surface coal mining where surface coal mining means the operation of a coal mine that is not an underground mine and underground mine means a coal mine in which persons are employed beneath the earth's surface when the mine is being worked and in which the working environment is completely enclosed by the geologic medium.

The Bill reiterates the prohibition of surface coal mining in Lake Macquarie City except for the existing Westside open cut mine.

To get the Bill passed we need to lobby politicians to vote for the Bill.
Contact  Paul Moors paul@bam.org.au  for more information on how you can help the Bill being passed. Or put pen to paper and send Greg Piper a letter of support to 92 Victory Parade,TORONTO NSW 2283 or Email: lakemacquarie@parliament.nsw.gov.au
A copy to the surrounding State MPs would also be effective, coal dust doesn't recognise boundaries.

Mr Kerry Hickey- cessnock@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Ms Jodi Mckay- newcastle@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Mr Matthew Morris- charlestown@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Ms Sonia Hornery-wallsend@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Mr Robert Coombs-swansea@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Mr David Harris-wyong@parliament.nsw.gov.au