CENTRAL Coast Council has reiterated its opposition to the planned Wallarah 2 coalmine, telling a public hearing of the NSW Planning Assessment Commission that the “risk of uncertainty” was too great to allow the project to proceed.
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The mine is proposed at Bushells Ridge, north-west of Wyong, near the local government border separating Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast.
The NSW Department of Planning has recommended the underground coal mine could be approved, despite acknowledging the risk of a “measured loss of water to the Central Coast water supply”.
It attached 78 draft conditions of consent.
Under the terms of those conditions the mine’s proponents, Wyong Coal and the Korean Government-backed Kores, would be required to undertake compensatory water supply provisions.
Opponents of the mine said the 78 draft conditions were so onerous as to render the project too expensive and unviable.
But the council said the draft conditions did not go far enough.
It said all water losses to the Central Coast water supply should be compensated “to achieve no net impact” on the region’s water supply.
The hearing was told the former Wyong and Gosford councils had engaged two independent consultants to review the potential geological, water, environmental and planning implications of the mine.
“Both identified gaps and inconsistencies” in the environmental impact statement and data modelling for the mine, the council said.
“The concerns raised are still considered relevant.”
Council said the concerns include possible impacts on water supply, surface and groundwater, flooding, subsidence and Buttonderry Waste Facility.
Supporters of Wallarah 2 told the hearing the potential economic and community benefits to the region, coupled with strict environmental safeguards, meant the mine should proceed.
