Angus Place Extension Project.

I support the project due to its positive contribution to the community in providing local coal to the mt piper power station and economic stimulus.

I am the Mine Manager of Angus Place currently on care and maintenance.
Angus Place is critical to support Mount Piper, the most modern power station in NSW and to ensure energy security and base load power for the state of New South Wales.
Although renewables are making an impact, base load power is still crucial to carry generated power through the grid and to ensure grid frequency stability.
Springvale Mine which is currently supplying fuel to Mount Piper for power generation is in the final years of its life.
Angus Place is a replacement and is crucial to ensure the continuation of fuel supply to Mount Piper till the end of its life.
The Angus Place operation will also ensure ongoing employment for the local employees to support their families and support the local rural community and economy.

Thank you for this opportunity to make a submission on the above project.
Please see attached submission.
Julie Favell

Please note attached submission

I fully support this project in the best interests , not only for the district , but also the state of New south Wales.

I am a keen bushwalker. I have been to this area, only once, but would like to be able to continue to access the area. I recommend that that the planning committee go out and visit the area. The committee should see for itself the damage that this proposal will do to a wilderness area that is worthy of preserving for generations after us.
It is one thing to sit in an office and dry read a report. How can the proponents properly deal with environment issues when they do not have the appreciation of it, when they see only $? I urge to committee to go out to the proposal area and see the area proposed to be destroyed, because this is surely what will occur. This committee will be responsible unless the proposal is rejected.

The Angus Place east extension will secure NSW energy supply and provide support to Mount Piper power station in future.
The project also brings significant economic and social benefit to the local community.
Centennial have continuously demonstrated a commitment to minimising harm to the environment and supporting the local community
Based on this I fully support approval of the project.

see attached submission

Angus Place Colliery extension is I believe to be the most viable proposition for the continual supply of coal to Mt Piper Power Station.
By utilising existing infrastructure this will result in minimal additional impact to the local Environment.
In addition the local community has the skilled mine workers readily available and willing to produce safe coal.
I support the Angus Place extension

Dear Sir/Madam,
State Significant Project – Angus Place Mine Extension (SSD 5602 - Amendment Exhibition)
I request that the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (the DoPIE) recommend refusal of consent, as Centennial Coal has not modified the Angus Place mine extension proposal to adequately protect nationally endangered swamps and has sought to grandfather its consent until 2053, preventing future necessary adaption of the energy sector to address the growing climate emergency. As a result:
-I oppose the mine extension as it will fracture the sandstone strata supporting the nationally endangered swamps.
-I request that if any consent is issued, then it must be reviewed every 5 years with a possibility of cancellation from 2025, and proposing to grandfather the Angus Place mine consent until 2053 ignores the growing climate catastrophe by locking in coal-fired electric power.
-Please require Centennial Coal to revise this amended proposal to prevent damage to spectacular Birds Rock, Wolgan River, Carne Creek, pagodas, cliffs and the nationally endangered swamps in the 2,000 hectare Study Area.
-Centennial Coal must not be allowed to further replicate the damage it has already caused to nationally threatened upland swamps on the Newnes Plateau.
-To ensure this significant central part of the Gardens of Stone reserve proposal, mini-longwall mining methods should be applied instead of the intensive longwall mining proposed.
-The excessive clearing of 50 hectares of public forest for an additional roads, ventilation and pumping facilities must be reduced and all facilities located away from sensitive areas.
-Wolgan Falls must not run dry - the proposed long wall mining panels must be shortened by hundreds of metres along the Wolgan River side of the Study Area to prevent river water losses due to far field impacts associated with the extensive Wolgan Lineament Field.
-Pristine Carne Creek, and its waters that flow through the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and past the Wolgan Valley resort must not be contaminated with iron and manganese released or suffer reduced flows due to fracturing of surface rocks.
-In the seven years since Centennial’s consultants identified the need for targeted surveys of nationally endangered plants, the company failed to undertake these searches. Lithgow
Environment Group has in that time identified many sites within the proposal where these Federally listed plants occur, highlighting the weakness of the company’s environmental assessment.
-Due to the extent of mining impacts and duration of approval being sought, the amended Angus Place mine extension proposal must be subject to an Independent Planning Commission hearing, review and determination process.
I have not made political donations or gifts totalling $1,000 or more in the last two years.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Yours sincerely,
Joyce Hinterding

JOYCE HINTERDING| Senior lecturer | Sydney College of the Arts |
School of Literature Arts and Media | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
Building A22 | Old Teachers’ College | Manning Road | NSW | 2006
[email protected]

I object to this project because of the significant and irreversible damage it will cause to the landscape, waterflows, hanging swamps, biodiversity and pagodas above the proposed long walls and adjacent areas.
I write as someone who has walked extensively in this area and fully appreciate the unique biophysical features of this area.
Please see my attachment.

Water security is most important for the world in general and Australia particulary being such a dry continent. I object to any project that risks damaging water ways including swamp lands. The Angus Place Mine Extension (SSD 5602 - Amendment Exhibition) under Centennial Coal does not provide prevention of damage to Carne Creek, Wolgan River and the swamps all located in the study area. Centennial Coal already has a very tarnished track record regarding the swamps on the Newnes Plateau.

The proposed intensive longwall mining causes the risk of fracture of the sandstone strata and damage to Gardens of Stone. The roads, ventilation facilities and pumping facilities will also cause damage due to polution and public forest clearing. After such devestating loss of forests in the resent fires should endear more protection of the remaing forests we have.

Any consents must be up for regular review at yearly intervals to stop damage to the environment hopefully at a repairable stage. Centennial Coal has not surveyed for endangered species and should not be allowed to go ahead with its oroposal until it has adequately fulfilled this requirement.

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment surely is aware of a world shift away from fossil fuels and be planning for a future with renewables and environmental protection. In the light of global climate change protecting forests and water is a basic.

The area included in this mine extension contains unique rock formations, caves and waterfalls. There are also 22 nationally endangered swamps above the rock platform. The mine would destroy these rock formations and swamps. The pristine quality of the water in Carne Creek would also be under threat. This creek flows through the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and should not be affected in any way.

I object to the Angus Place Extension Project because of the damage it would cause in a world renowned heritage area. There is far more future value in this pristine wilderness than in the coal such a mine extension would extract. Once the wilderness is destroyed it's gone forever. There are alternatives to coal as an energy resource and the employment in mines. I think the NSW Government would be wiser to invest in alternatives, than to approve this mine extension.

extension of Angus place for lithgow government area would be good for local jobs, after bushfires, draught. lithgow needs more stable jobs. the powerstation needs coal for the next 20 plus years to keep the lights on in NSW. without coal no power.

The Angus Place colliery has a good record of mining in Lithgow area with minimal impacts to the people that live there and the local environment and good safety records. The mine will support number of local businesses from small ones to more significant ones as well as provide work continuity and stability to the region.

It has never been clearer that ecology is the cornerstone maintaining our food sovereignty. Climate change has exposed our vulnerability, the recent black summer a new extreme. Extending coal mines that have the potential to affect food production and are within 200km of Sydney is short-sighted considering these risks.

The Independent Planning Commission must review this proposal in relation to the proposed grandfathering this mine consent until 2053. The Covid-19 pandemic is a time to reset to a renewable economy that benefit regional economies. The dangers of coal-fired electricity are well-documented and pose an existential threat to our society. The notion that consent continues despite the reality of changing climate is economically and legally irresponsible. Review periods should reflect this reality by being held every 2 years.

On a personal I have enjoyed visiting this area I am concerned that the mine extension will seriously damage the core values of the Gardens of Stone region.

An orderly exit from coal needs planning and strategy. The adversarial nature of objecting to new coal mines or extensions continually exposes the NSW government to criticism. This submission process should not simply be a conceit to the hollow men, not fit for the real challenges of Australian democracy. The corrupting power of Australian coal companies has been well-documented.

I look forward to an inquisitorial process that ascertains the truth, and dismisses this flawed proposal.

I object to this project for 2 main reasons as follows.

1. The project reflects a continue as is denial of climate change, by proposing to feed a large greenhouse gas generating power station for the next 25+ years. NSW simply cannot afford to not do all it can to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions when future climate predictions point to a severe drying of inland parts of the State. The costs of this will be much greater than any shorter term costs of giving up coal-fired power. By approving this project the State will be signaling that it is business as before, when it should be signaling that new approaches to energy generation that actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions are required. The whole world needs to be close to zero greenhouse gas emissions within the proposed life of this project, in order to minimise negative climate change effects. So in no way can this project be considered to be environmentally sustainable.
2. Despite all the expert studies of mine subsidence and groundwater made for the project it cannot be guaranteed to not damage the hydrology and geomorphology of the project area and its surrounds. The pagoda and cliff terrain of the project area is a beautiful, natural world that should not be risked for the short-term aims of the project.

I would like to lodge my objection to the Angus Place Coal Mine Extension.
Centennial Coal’s Angus Place proposal will destroy and degrade an irreplaceable natural heritage area that contains nationally endangered swamps, spectacular sandstone pagodas and cliff formations. This project will further exacerbate dangerous uncontrollable climate change such as we have recently experienced in the 2019-20 bush fire season..
Please consider the following critical issues:
• The mine extension will fracture and drain nationally endangered swamps. These swamps provide critical refuges for a range of species while providing valuable ecosystem services by storing and purifying groundwater and baseflow to nearby creeks, while providing natural firebreaks. Centennial coal has already destroyed enough swamps on the Newnes Plateau. This project has admitted that subsidence-related impacts will occur to Tri-Star Swamp, Twin Gully Swamp, Trail Six Swamp, Birds Rock Swamp, Crocodile Swamp and hanging swamps in their catchments. DoPIE should be ensuring the protection of these irreplaceable water sources and the rehabilitation and recovery of these threatened ecological communities, not approving their destruction.
• Global warming is accelerating due to the ongoing approval of fossil fuel developments. Both large and small produce emissions that when combined add up to a huge global problem. The cumulative impacts from the approval of multiple small projects must be prevented if we are to avoid a climate crisis. Global heating is already having devastating impacts on people and nature in NSW and around the world, with increased wildfires, dwindling unreliable water sources and unstable, unreliable climate systems. Centennial Coal has failed to accurately report their Scope 3 CO2 emissions. Actual emissions will be 30 times larger than predicted by this project producing 11 million tonnes of CO2 each year, or 8.5% of NSW’s CO2 emissions, while Centennial claim the number is only 0.368% of NSW’s emissions. An extension of the mine’s approval to 2053 would be a breach of the NSW government’s net zero emissions by 2050 target. Approval beyond 2030 is in breach of Australia’s commitment to the Paris agreement goals of making efforts to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees.
• DoPIE must require that the quality and quantity of stream flows through the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and Carne Creek are protected and not contaminated with iron and manganese or reduced in yield due to the interception and fracturing of creek lines and hydrogeological units.

This mine extension should not be approved. The resulting irreversible impacts to valuable ecosystems and water sources over time far outweigh any short term economic benefits considering the declining market for coal and decreasing cost of renewable energy.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Julia Imrie BSc. Dip Ed. Grad Dip water Resources PhD

This area proposed for the Angus Place mining extension is one which has a delicately balanced eco system. Rock Pagodas and swamps will be effected with subsidence as no one is able to guarantee this not to happen. Coal is a major contributor to global warming and it is time Governments listened to us the people