Mangoola Coal Continued Operations Project

This project has not taken adequate consideration of the local residents. Many locals have not been included in a compulsary acquisition. Their homes have now become virtually worthless and impossible to sell. I think there has been oversight in allowing the mine this amount of reach. I'd like to see the compulsary acquisition of further local properties to allow them the dignity to move comfortably.

I believe that the Mangoola Coal extension will benefit our local community and those surrounding suburbs dramatically. Mangoola has many ongoing projects in our local area and surrounding suburbs, they support and sponsor many important local groups and events. This extension would allow growth within the Muswellbrook shire and secure another 5 years of work for the already employed and the possibilities to employ more locals.

Mangoola is a modern and progressive mining operation and an industry leader in terms of the quality of mined lands rehabilitation that is being carried out on site. The natural landform approach to rehabilitation, coupled with the revegetation strategy of establishing specific vegetation communities in the appropriate location in the landscape, is providing not only an aesthetic landform, but is also transitioning well to the re-creation of a functioning ecosystem. The extent of flora species diversity currently being restored at Mangoola is unparalleled in the coal mining industry, and is resulting in a rapid return of fauna into rehabilitation areas. Independent ecological monitoring is now showing a significant increase in flora and fauna species diversity within rehabilitation areas compared to surrounding biodiversity offset areas. Several local threatened bird species are now regularly observed in the rehabilitated areas, which is evidence that the ecosystem restoration is on a positive trend.

Mangoola has demonstrated a strong focus and commitment to mining rehabilitation, and is leaving a legacy of high quality rehabilitation to act as flora and fauna habitat and connectivity pathways. The company has shown that they go over and above any minimum Development Approval requirements for rehabilitation, and consistently introduce improvements through measures such as flora translocations, refinement and diversity in species selection, endemic seed collection programs, fauna habitat establishment, timber salvage, nest box programs, weed management and on-going research into threatened species conservation.

Mangoola mine is often visited by other mining company representatives, environmental science university students and other rehabilitation practitioners, seeking to view and understand how high quality rehabilitation is carried out at the site.

The proposed Mangoola Coal Continued Operations Project area is largely degraded and poor quality grazing country, with large tracts suffering from dryland salinity, due to poor historical land management practices. Post-mining, the area would be rehabilitated into a functioning ecosystem of eucalyptus woodlands and native grasslands, further contributing to regional habitat connectivity and ecosystem provision.

From a social viewpoint, the extension of the current operations would provide employment security for many local families, support spending in the local area, and continued funding to the many local organisations that Mangoola has supported over many years.

All major developments have environmental impacts, however I believe that Mangoola has shown a responsible, diligent and very successful approach to environmental management, through robust and comprehensive systems to manage noise, dust, water and ecosystem rehabilitation.

On balance, given the high standard of environmental management measures that Mangoola has in place and the enormous ongoing benefits to the broader local community, and considering the poor existing land capability of the proposed MCCO project area, I believe that the project should definitely be approved.

As per my attachment thanks

Please see attachment

This project will bring great benefit to the community as a whole. Suppliers will have opportunities to grow their local businesses. Students studying to enter the workforce will experience increased job opportunities in their local community. Overall this project will have a huge positive impact on the wider area.

By way of this submission I support the continued operation of Mangoola Coal.
The Hunter Valley is a well established mining area & the Mangoola Extension is not an isolated case.
The continued operation of Mangoola will secure many existing, and potentially new, employment opportunities and continue to provide ongoing support & benefit to both local & wider communities & districts. Thankyou.

The local community morale will decline with such a huge loss of jobs not just for those in the font line but also all other business which benefit from a healthy workforce in the area. Over the last few years where there has been mine closure and job losses the town has definitely suffered.

I do not support the Mangoola Coal continuing operations. As I believe this new site has more cultural background than reviewed in the submission and our Australian cultural history will be distorted as well as fauna and flora on the new site proposed. This site should be preserved for our future generations.

Hi my name is Alexander Cooper and I am the director of CPR Plant Repairs and Maintenance. My business works with the Mangoola coal mining site and with its help we employ local people from within the upper Hunter Valley region. I believe strongly the project should be given approval for its economic benefit to the local people, the community and government. I work across many coal mining sites open cut and underground in the Hunter Valley and in my experience have not seen a coal mine so dedicated to its people, respecting the indigenous heritage of the land and to the rehabilitation process. I sincerely hope this project is given the approval it deserves. Thank you.

I support project

I do not support the extension of the Mangoola Coal Mine for environmental and personal reasons.
From an environmental perspective, extending the Mangoola Coal Mine will continue to pollute the air with coal dust and carbon monoxide. Not to mention the noise pollution that comes with the operation of heavy mining vehicles in an otherwise serene, rural landscape. The Wybong area is in the midst of an extensive drought so there is also generally more dust in the air, and the use of precious water to operate the mine puts a strain on our already depleted resources. Then there is the naturally occurring underground water system of springs which will undoubtedly be disturbed, as it has already with the current mine, causing further strain on our precious resource. Not great in a drought. Wildlife is displaced. Old growth Flora is lost.
On a personal note, I grew up on a farm not far from the current mine. My parents still reside there and we often visit them with our kids. We are concerned that living so close to the mine is having a negative effect on their health. I believe that fine coal dust can cause irreversible damage to the lungs. But it is also a concern when we visit them and our kids are potentially breathing in coal dust as well. There has also been an effect on my parents emotionally. The farm that they searched for and purchased in 1979 - their own piece of paradise - isn’t a serene rural landscape anymore. The whole Wybong community has been fractured. Families who lived in the area for generations have been forced to sell up. My parents can see the mine to the South, from their house, and the cooling Southerly breezes bring a cloud of dust directly from the mine. My parents have put up with their noisy neighbours (the mine) for years and done everything they can to preserve the unique property they have, but they should not be forced to leave simply because it is a danger to their health to stay there.
Renewable energy is the future. Why can’t the mines start investing in it instead of destroying our precious Australian landscape?

this project will keep some local jobs safe

this project would be great for the local community and area with job creation and community development the mine also has a great rehabilitation.

I'm in support off the extension as it provides an income for my family and friends

Mangoola Coal has been a great benefit to my family allowing us to purchase our first home due to my employers long term contracts with mangoola coal. I fully support Mangoola Coal in there continued operations and ongoing support of many local businesses and communities.

I object to the project for the following 5 reasons:-
1. The value of property in proximity to a mine is significantly diminished. In our community there are several members who are reaching the age where they will be needing to move. Their financial future is in jeopardy with the decreased value of their property. Anyone in the community who needs/wants to move will also experience difficulty in selling, if indeed they are able to sell at all!
2. A sense of Community is an important part of rural life. Already many members of the Wybong community have been displaced and an expansion would further impact on the disintegration of our community feel. The Hall, once a hub of social life holds a small percentage of activities compared to years gone by. Many of the community members mourn this loss.
3.There is also the very obvious environmental concerns. The beautiful landscape with its unique flora and fauna will be replaced by massive destruction. By Glencore's own admission it will be 15-20 years before the land is usable again after the mine operations are finished. It is intolerable that 2 extremely large voids will be left. So much for the landscape being "rehabilitated".
4. I am concerned about the air quality. I don't care how many tests have been done I know the dust is an issue every time I clean the house, look at my white car, look out over the hills. Every time I drive to town the air is worse than Sydney's polluted skyline. If the mine comes closer this is only going to get worse.
5. The noise of the mine is already louder than it was as it is moving. At night there is a steady rumbling and blasting is louder. Again, tests mean nothing when the proof is in the living with it.
As an overview, these 5 points taken together add up to a drastic deterioration in lifestyle for the people who live and/or work in this community. The project extends the mine life by 5 years. It destroys the landscape for at least 20 years, displaces people for the rest of their life, pollutes the air for the life of the mine and creates no extra employment for the local area. The council receives an extra 5 years of revenue - then what? They still need to provide services. Does/has this extra revenue kept businesses open in Muswellbrook? No. Does/has this extra revenue provided the Wybong community with any extra services? No.
As far as I can see, there are no real benefits to this project and the effects it will have on our community are significant. Approval for this project must be considered to be detrimental to the continuing welfare of this rural community and so therefore I would urge it to be denied.
Thank You
Lee Curran

I Support the Mangoola Coal Continued Operations Project.

I write in support of the Mangoola Coal Continued Operations Project. Having worked at Mangoola Open Cut for a period of time in 2017 & again currently, my observations have been that Glencore take their environmental management seriously. During my time at Mangoola Open Cut in 2017 I had a varied role which took me to most parts of the mine site. This enabled me to observe first hand the whole process from start to finish. On a recent tour of the rehabilitation area (August 2019) I was amazed at how much the areas that had been freshly rehabilitated in 2017 had progressed, especially given the current long period of dry conditions experienced in the area.
The mine provides employment for people with very diverse backgrounds, some with previous mining experience & some, like myself, without previous mining experience. I feel each of those individuals has something to add to the continued life of the mine. An extension of the mine project gives those people a sense of certainty.
The mine site has existing infrastructure, most of which I understand will be used for the Continued Operations Project rather than taking up new areas of land & new resources to build the infrastructure from scratch.

I am an employee of Mangoola coal and has been in the mining industry for 19 years. Mangoola is one of a number of coal mines in the Upper Hunter. It provides employment. In 2013 I was made redundant by another mine. It took two years to find another position in mining in the Upper Hunter. It is hard to find suitable employment in this industry. By extending the life of mine of Mangoola with this extension project, work for it's employees and the people in the industry supplying goods and services to the mine, is extended for another 5 years. 5 years is not a long time but every bit helps with sustainability of local jobs. I have a wife and two children who are in high school. We own our house and do not look forward to moving away from the area to another mining area. Having had experience of interstate movements between mines from 2005 to 2009, we do not want to uproot and unsettle the family if it can be avoided. We are part of a good community and would like to continue to contribute to the local area.