HVO North Open Cut Coal Continuation Project

See attached preliminary advice.
Council is working towards providing a detailed submission following a briefing by the Proponent on 7th March 2023. Council reserves its right to provide Councillors with adequate time for review of the proposal and the staff submission. It should be noted that amendments to council’s submission, or a subsequent submission, may occur as a result of this process.

Please see attachment

HVO is the jewel in the Hunter Valley with a track record of environmentally responsible operations that have overall benefited the local community and NSW economy for over 50 years. It was some of the first open cut coal mined in the Hunter Valley, and given the quality of the HVO coal, it should be the last coal mined in 2050.

Please see the attached submission for an explanation of Lock the Gate's OBJECTION to this Project.

I believe this project is paramount in keeping and creating local jobs. Not only keeping employment up its beneficial to the local community as HVO run community projects and programs that benefit the public in so many ways.

I’m 23 and I have started my traineeship here at HVO. I’ve finally found a job that I’m keen to jump out of bed and head to work for. I studied law at university straight out of school but decided I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk and this job has been a dream of mine for many years, now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and hope to do so for years to come. It provides unbelievable opportunities for me that My family and I appreciate greatly.

Hunter Valley Operations runs a safe and environmentally minded pit that provides resources that are increasingly more valuable as we come to realise that going green isn’t all its cracked up to be. Everyone’s happy to cry for the renewables until it’s time for their increased power bills and black outs from grid insufficiencies and this is before we even add in the load from electric vehicles.

End of the day we provide world class coal that is the cleanest burning and highest energy producing in the world. If we aren’t getting it out of the ground here and at least benefiting from it then other countries are just going to ramp up their demand and it will be sourced from places that prioritise profit margins over workers safety and the environmental impact that they have with inferior product. The toll it will have on the Australian economy/people will be extreme and will not do the overall planet any benefit as the same amount of resources will be consumed globally but it’s demand will just be filled by more reckless means. Australia will be missing out on one of its main exports keeping this country going. If renewables were as good as they are made out to be the value of coal would have plummeted due to being rendered useless, however this is not the case and is inevitable to be used in the future.

The ones speaking against projects such as these are the minority. The majority of the population understands the needs for resources. The team at HVO is comprised of many younger people such as myself who aren’t the typical “stuck in their old fossil fuelled ways” that many people portray the demographic of miners and the future it provides my generation is one that I hope to carry on with.

I have lived in the Hunter Valley all my life and recently started working at HVO after working for Mining, Exploration and Geoscience within the Department of Regional NSW for 10 years. This has given me a lot of exposure to the industry well before I became an employee within it. I have always supported mining within the Hunter Valley for the primary reason that it maintains jobs and supports individuals raising their families, putting them through school and maintaining a home. My main support goes to the families that will be adversely affected and the flow-on effect to personal health and community, namely mental health, financial stability and personal and family breakdown. HVO maintains up to 1500 local jobs and provides support for local businesses through sustaining local goods and services.
I now also see firsthand HVO's commitment to the local community through local charity and community support through our Workplace Giving, sponsorship and community grants program.
HVO is just one of many that pay significant taxes and mining royalties that support schools, hospitals and roads as well as pay for teachers, nurses and Police within NSW and it is concerning to know where this money will come from and what will happen at a State and local level if the decision is made to take this away.
HVO is not a new mine. It has been mining here for 70 years and the impact of this project will result in minimal change.
There’ll be little change to the scale or intensity of mining and no increase to approved annual production rates. I mean it sincerely when I say my support for the project does not come from self-interest, I think mostly of the lives that could be seriously impacted and changed over something that is very little change to the mine and its footprint.

I am an owner of a civil construction company based in the Hunter Valley, and I strongly support the HVO North Open Cut Coal Continuation Project. Our direct workforce consists of 220 full time employees, and in addition we directly engage a significant number of local subcontract companies to assist in the delivery of civil construction projects. With a large portion of our work force engaged on civil projects in the mining sector, we are heavily reliant on the continued success of the mining sector including projects within HVO. Not only do we rely on the various construction phases of these projects, but also the supply contracts servicing operational mines. In addition to my own business and also the subcontractors that are reliant on my engagement, we strongly believe the approval of this specific project will not only continue to provide significant long-term benefit to the regional towns within the Hunter Valley, but the NSW community will benefit as well.

I object to approval of this project (and the south open cut coal continuation project), due to the enormous quantities of greenhouse gas emissions that it would contribute in scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions over its projected life. I understand that the mine (both north and south open cut coal continuation projects) would contribute 1.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year in scope 1 and 2 emissions, and about 1.1 billion tonnes in scope 3 emissions from 2023 to 2050. These are extraordinary figures, particularly as the need to make deep GHG emissions cuts is only growing more urgent.
I also object to the project as it would lead to critically endangered ecological communities being cleared, and have significant, negative consequences for the region's ground water resources.

As renewables are not yet up to a scale to take over the electrical production needs as they are other parts of the world, I believe that this proposal should be approved especially as this is not a new mine site but an existing mine with no change to infrastructure. Local employment and local communities will also benefit from a lease extension.

As a local to the Singleton community, l strongly support the approval of Hunter Valley Operations continuation project. Given that HVO has operated for over 70 years, it should be treated as that, not a new mine.

Hunter Valley Operations is a massive local employer, with over 1500 direct jobs, let alone local business who are supported through the goods and services that HVO buy and utilise.

If not approved, HVO will close in 2 years' time, impacting thousands of people directly, and many times more indirectly, as HVO is a major contributor to coal royalties that pay for schools, hospitals and roads, along with many other vital services that support our state. Further, HVO is a great supportor of local charities and provides many community grants.

Finally, when being assessed, it should be noted that HVO has demonstrated a strong commitment to the environment and community in its submission for continuation by re-designing its pit shell and forgoing already approved mine areas and infrastructure in order to reduce and remove impact on the environment, sacred sites and the broader community.

My partner works here as well as other close friends and family, the continuation of this project is imperative to our families livelihood.

This project will support my family financially and our livelihood for the duration of the continuation

Having worked in the Hunter Valley for retail sales, through providing other professional services I have witnessed first hand the benefits that a strong local economy brings for all towns in the valley . We have already seen the fallout of 100s of people losing their jobs through approvals not being approved. Given the current economic stress families are going through with inflation we need all the help we can get. I understand the environmental conditions that mines undertake and the constant checks and balances that the EPA undertake . Everyone loses , do it but do it properly.

This mine supports myself and my three children and is a great place to work with a lot of opportunities for myself and my children in the future.

If the NSW Government accepts that we are in the throes of a climate disaster brought on by the excessive burning of fossil fuels, and that we as a global community need to reduce future extraction and burning of fossil fuels, then this and other similar projects cannot be permitted to proceed. Research shows 90% of coal and 60% of oil and gas reserves must stay in the ground if we’re to have half a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5℃ this century. Allowing fossil fuel extraction to expand is a dangerous move that does not support Australia’s long-term energy future.
This needs to be the beginning point. Time is critical. It is necessary to veto all fossil fuel extraction proposals, and concentrate investment in sustainable technologies where the financial returns would be at least comparable, but without the huge environmental and social cost.