Airly Coal Mine Expansion

I have lived and worked in this area for the past 10 years, of those ten years I have worked for Centennial Coal (originally at Airly, then Charbon and now Airly again) for 3 years. In this time I have been exposed to some very broad views on Coal mining in the district.

What leads me to make a submission is that such a thing can be so polarizing to the point of level headed discussion goes out the window. I have seen those opposed to the extension turn blindly to any factual information and encourage hearsay and scaremongering on both sides of the argument.

As it stands now with my involvement in the mine I can say I have never worked for an organization that has been so focused on social and environmental consequences, this gives me faith as a local resident of Capertee that Centennial are aware of the factors that will limit there mining operations.

So far without Centennial in the Capertee valley, extensive environmental and native history research would not have been undertaken, as they are obliged to undertake these studies. Local communities that sustain the rural industries would struggle, as the towns of Kandos/Rylstone have already hit by the closure of Kandos Cement Works and Charbon Colliery, would not have the employment opportunity offered by Airly.
Before I started at Airly, I was working in Kandos for another company so to me these towns I consider to be local.

Airly Coal has proven that it wants to be a good for the area they have directly supported Capertee Public School, where my daughters attend. They are active with Capertee Progress Association and I have seen them first hand try to engage in those opposed to mine to allay concerns. But as history shows you can't teach those that don't want to learn.

If I was to have any concerns as a local it would be that I don't know enough, I don't have experience in mining to understand the environmental effects. I have read the proposal and understand they aim to not impact the surface or the cliff faces. And ultimately this is where I have to have faith in the professionals that look at this. Not greenies opposing for opposing sake.

There must come a time when the planning department seek a win win solution, one that placates the environmentalists and allows industry to employ and profit. Airly as I know it have been positive to the local community being employed there has given me more family time and career opportunities.

I am a long time resident of Capertee and have lived in the area most of my life.
The area that Centennial Coal is proposing to mine in this application is directly under the mountain and land that our family have called home for longer than I have been alive. My brother, sisters and I all grew up in the area and spent every weekend on and around Genowlan and Airly Mountain, now called Mugii Murum-Ban State Conservation Area and now a majority of it like the back of our hands so to speak. After reading the EIS and seeing first hand the work that is being conducted by Airly Coal, I do have some reservations, but trust the planned methods for the low impact mining that is proposed in this location, to protect our beautiful backyard.

My entire primary school education was at Capertee Public School and I also had my son who is now 18 attend for his entire primary education. I have one daughter currently attending the school, and will have another entering kindergarten in 2015.

My husband is employed by Centennial Coal at the Airly site as an electrician, and we have been through the roller coaster of Airly closing, being redeployed to Charbon Colliery and then being redeployed once again when Charbon closed back to Airly.
Centennial Coal have been very open and understanding with the Capertee community with regular meetings, ongoing updates as well as being available to answer any questions, no matter how stupid.
My children have directly benefited from the coal mine, participating in a music program at the Capertee Public School funded by Airly Coal. They have also provided an information sign for the school as well as new technology.
They have provided various types of support and help to our community organisations, such as cash donations for our Community Christmas Party, physical and practical support with electrical wiring, concrete and termite protection on our community hall. This type of support is invaluable to our school and community which have very few options of support and very little money due to the small size of our community.

I remember reading the original EIS in 1994 and have since had the opportunity to learn a bit more about coal mining. I have also read this EIS and am impressed with quality of work and research that has been put in by Centennial Coal.
I have seen first hand the Centennial Coal drilling sites and was impressed with their level of rehabilitation.

The employment provided with this extension will help sustain not only Capertee, but other locations such as Kandos, Rylstone and Lithgow. I fully support the Centennial Coal Airly Mine Extension and have experienced no issues with the current operations and can see nothing but benefits from continued operations.

The Lithgow district and the Capertee community needs this extension to be approved.

I am in support of the mine, I am a 2nd generation miner, but have had family working in the area as miners for a total of 70 odd years. I have a wife and 2 kids that rely on my wage to live. We love the area and without my income we would have to move elsewhere, something we dont want to do. We have lived in this area our whole lives and wish to bring our family up in the area, but if its not approved, this unfortunately will not happen. We put alot of my wage into the local area along with most of the other employees i work with. We have had alot of businesses close in recent years and without this job, there is pretty much nothing around, just alot of empty shops in both towns (Kandos and Rylstone). There would be some 60 or so familys in the area that would have to look elsewhere for work, something that could cripple the whole area as smaller businesses rely on the wages that we all get. The Kandos Cement Works closed only a few years ago and that was bad enough. As for me and my family, i dont know what we would do, there are no permanent jobs around, and with other mines scaling back there work force as a result of coal prices, any job that does come up is extremely competitive. Without this job i risk losing my house, something that we have been doing renovations on for that last year or so, and just dont know who would buy it with no employment in the area.
I have an interest in environment issues and have family in the local environment group, Airly is extremely good at having very little if any negative impact on the area, its like a wildlife sanctuary driving home from there at night, it also has an incredible variety of native birds to see around the mine, something i like to see when i get there, it seems the birds and animals dont mind us being there either.

I certainly hope it gets approved as its a lovely area to work in and me and my family depends on it.

Thanks

I am in support of the Airly Mine Extension Project for a number of reasons. Firstly I am currently an employee of this mine and have been for the past 8 months and prior to that was an employee of Centennial Coal for two and a half years, this mine currently provides employment to 60 local workers, and because the local community relies heavily on the mine workers of the district to keep small businesses and schools financial.

Centennial Coal is one of the areas biggest employers. Generations of people have raised their families here and have helped to build the local economy to the point it is today.

It has come as a huge shock to learn that Angus Place, the biggest mine in the district, has just been put under care and maintenance resulting in a job loss of over 260 men and women, right after the announcement of the Cullen Valley and Coal-Pac extension rejections.

With the approval of this extension at Airly Mine, more local jobs are created, families remain in the local area, and the local community continues to thrive like it has done in recent years.

As an employee of Airly I know first hand that the mining methods used at Airly cause no surface subsidence, it is the cleanest and driest underground mine in the area and as a result of the location it does not disturb any water tables in the Airly and Genowlan Mountains. It poses no threat to the natural environment or the Pagoda rock formations.

The pit top infrastructure has already been established, there are brand new bath house amenities and offices to cater up to 170 underground employees, and approval of this extension will help to see a lot of the recent local job losses absorbed back into the mining industry.

No mines = no Lithgow
No jobs = no community

The community has suffered enough recently due to mine closures and approval rejections, we dont need any more.

Approve this project and save a district

The future of Airly Mine is critical to the local community not only on an economic level but from a cultural and community stand point. With the recent decision to suspend mining at Angus Place Colliery and the global downturn in the mining sector it is imperative that the community receive 'Good news' stories. The re-opening of Airly Mine allowing the continued employment of the Charbon Mine workforce has re-invigorated the communities of Kandos, Rylstone and Lithgow. Moreover the secured future of Airly Mine provides Lithgow residents with some hope for the future, needless to say at some stage the mine will require more employees and can quite easily accomodate expanded production should the extension be granted and the economic climate improve.
The creation of jobs in the local government area must be a major priority at this time or the impact upon the Lithgow community could be devastating sending Lithgow spiralling into an economic downturn that I fear could destroy a town built for decades on heavy industry and steeped in tradition and history. In recent times the local government has been very proactive in promoting local business and it is very encouraging to see the transformation of the main street in Lithgow with once empty shops now opened again and trading successfully. We simply must keep this trend and allow local children the opportunity to stay in Lithgow and gain employment, the alternative spells the end.
Airly Mine's current and indeed future mining methods are designed to have very low impact on the environment and no discernable impact has been recorded from operations to date. This fits in well with the conservation values of the Mugii Murum-Ban State Conservation Area that the mine currently operates in.
Airly Mine is a very strong supporter of the local community ad supports groups such as Capertee Public School, Capertee Rural Fire Service and the Capertee and District Progress Association. My involvement in the local community encompasses almost 30 years supporting local sporting associations both cricket and hockey, having coached literally thousands of young and mature athletes. I am now a High Performance Coach with Hockey NSW a job which allows me to travel the country coaching children and young adults, with the blessing and support of my current employer Centennial Coal, a role that I would be forced to relinquish should my employment cease.

The Airly Mine extension approval will be pivotal to the sustainability of the local area. The community supports mining and in turn the approval for extension will support the community by potentially creating jobs, or at least long term employment for the current employees.

This would be beneficial as the loss of 268 jobs at our local Angus Place colliery will effect Lithgow and surrounding area's greatley, we don't want any more country area's to turn into ghost towns......

Airly mine needs this approval for the neighbouring communities well being and economy.... After blows to coalpac and angus place and over 500 out of work, these families need some security, which can be provided by this approval... These towns are steeped in mining history and require these mines to help support local economy, without these jobs and mines these communities will crumble without a significant boost from alternative industry to take up the slack of mass unemployment and the affect of no one supporting the local economy....

I SUPPORT THAT AIRLEY MINE RE-OPENS. FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

I fully support this expansion

I fully support this expansion

In recent light of another major mining site being taken into care and maintenance i would like to support the expansion of this mine and the opportunity for more jobs in the local area

I support the extension of Airly mine as I believe it is in the interests of the whole community to support the coal mines that have been an integral part of this community and an important contributor to our economy. I believe an overwhleming majority of people who reside in this area are in support of this important project. It seems that the loudest voices in protest at such projects are those who do not even live here and are therefore not immediately affected by what happens. Local residents' submissions should be the ones to be considered.

If closed this would have a devastating effect on a rural community where work doesn't come easy.

I fully support the Airly Mine Extension. Putting the mine into care & maintenance will be detrimental to the community, and to the lives of those apart of the community.

I believe the Airly upgrade will be beneficial to the surrounding areas and also benefit many employees and future employment

Until safe, viable alternatives are found we must rely on coal mining to supply coal for power generation. In my view those who oppose the extension to the mine are standing in the way of progress and potentially causing a rise in the cost of power to families already struggling. There is also the issue of job losses for those who work for the mine and those who depend on them. These are jobs that allow families to live and grow in regional areas that may well otherwise be dependent on tourism and farming, neither of which is a reliable source of income. Coal mining has been taking place all over the world for many years. The environmental impact of a coal mine is relatively insignificant compared to a nuclear "accident". I believe we must continue to mine coal.

I am for the mine going ahead as I have many family and friends whose livelihood depends on it

Supporting

I know many families of people who work at Airly mine. They put in extensive effort and take great pride in being world class miners.
A well paid job in the mining industry has provided me also with the oppertunity to stay in the local area and to contribute to the local community in many meaningful ways. I live and work here, when most of the young people need to move to the cities to find work, which I see to be unsustainable.
We support many engineering business from the surrounding areas.
Since the cement works and Wallerawang power stations have closed it has taken a huge toll on businesses in the local area and there are only just enough work for many businesses to be a sufficient size to remain in business.
I am building a house, which helps employ lots of local people.
I help out on family farms in the area because farmers need support too.
I often ask people if they know about mining and the usual response I get is "no i don't but someone has shown me a photo of a bad experience from overseas somewhere". The fact is that every mine is completely different in Geology, Hydrology and community aspests and each needs to be assessed on a case by case basis. This mine application should definately be approved because it is a no brainer for those who understand what actually goes on.
Every job counts for a community outcome that is either on the incline or decline, thus affecting our economy and our future - Theory of compounding.
Please support jobs that make good sense.