Vickery Mine Extension

I wish for this project to go ahead given that it will make more
efficient mining possible thus reducing environmental impact per unit
of coal recovered. There are various details to be sorted out with
rail routes etc and I wish to rely on government decision in choice of
options, noting that flood redirection and aquifer compaction may not
be the same for each route. I will be very pleased to see Whitehaven
convert from trucked to rail operations as this too will reduce
environmental and safety risk impacts per unit of coal extracted.

Vickery Extension Project Submission

I live in Coonabarabran and am appalled by the increasing
transformation of large areas of agricultural land into industrialised
landscapes and massive holes in the ground. The Vickery Extension
Project should not be approved.

This application is an example of "approval creep." A mine has been
approved but not developed. This "extension" requests infrastructure
above and beyond that required for the application. This is then used
as justification for further development at a later time - a leapfrog
method of cumulative development.

Water will continue to be an issue. Predictions of impacts are based
on modelling which in turn depends on good basic water data. When it
doesn't exist, assumptions are made. That's all they are, assumptions,
not actual data.

The mine will be within metres of the Namoi River and cut deeply into
the landscape. This inevitably drains higher level aquifers depended
upon by nearby farmlands. It also appears to require an additional
nearby groundwater supply borefield leading to more removal of water
from higher level aquifers.

No mention appears to be made of the possibility of flooding of the
entire mine during flood events as happened several years ago in
Queensland. This contaminates the water as well as depriving the
existing river systems of the Northern Murray Darling Basin of much
needed replenishment flows.

Modelling of local jobs potential is flawed. There are already four
existing mines in the area. Those who would wish to have jobs in the
industry already have those jobs. The shortage of local labour will be
used to justify FIFO workers and thus accelerate the changeover to
driverless trucks, leading to fewer jobs locally.

Boggabri itself has been hollowed out by the departure of a number of
farm families already bought out by mining companies. Social impacts
are massive. There aren't enough young people left in towns for
sporting teams or rural fire brigades. The town dies.

No biodiversity offsets are promised because there is no suitable
local remnant vegetation. Paying money into an offset fund does not
conserve habitat and spending it on rehabilitation of degraded
ecosystems is incredibly expensive as well as taking decades.

Whitehaven and other nearby open cut mines already have poor records
of compliance to the conditions of their approvals. Why would we
expect this proposal to be any different?

Finally the UN Independent Panel on Climate Change recently stated
that if we continue on our present course, the inevitable outcomes of
developments such as this will be catastrophic. Already new mine
developments are struggling to find funding. Should this application
be approved a development commenced some shareholders and executives
will make money and those left in the area will be left to clear up
the mess.

Jane Judd
Coonabarabran

I feel that the submission from Whitehaven regarding their Vickery
project satisfies my concerns. I believe it will bring more employment
to the area.

We hereby provide our submission in supporting the approval of the
Vickery Extension Project

We farm greenhouse capsicum in WA and are disappointed in the governments
lack of foresight towards Australia's farming industry. There is a
socially recognised need to refuse further license's/expansion for the
coal and gas sector for both the protection of our water supplies and
for the need to address worldwide production of CO2. As a country we
have ample opportunity to lead the solar and wind energy industries
and should be looking towards becoming a leader in the sector instead
of kowtowing to the coal and gas sector. Arable land and clean water
supplies are becoming more and more valuable worldwide and there is
not enough appreciation in government of these as more valuable
resources for the future than fossil fuels.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY PERSONAL ENDORSEMENT FOR THE PROPOSED VICKERY
PROJECT.
I AM A MOBILE PLANT MECHANIC AND HAVE WORKED IN THE MINING INDUSTRY
NOW FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS AND HAVE LIVED AND WORKED IN MINING TOWNS IN
THREE STATES. I CAN ATTEST TO THE IMPORTANCE OF MINING AND THE
SUBSIDUARY INDUSTRIES TO COUNTRY TOWNS AND HAVE SEEN FIRST HAND THE
COOPERATIVE AND COMPLIMENTARY WAY MINING AND AGRICULTURE WORK
TOGETHER.
I MOVED TO GUNNEDAH TWO YEARS AGO SPECIFICALY FOR THIS REASON, THE
OPPORTUNITY TO REMAIN IN THE MINING INDUSTRY WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY
GETTING INVOLVED IN SMALL SCALE AG.
THE VICKERY PROJECT IN MY OPINION WILL PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR MANY
PEOPLE TO LIVE IN THIS GREAT CORNER OF AUSTRALIA WHO OTHERWISE MAY NOT
BE ABLE TO, WILL PROVIDE STABLE EMPLOYMENT FOR FAMILIES IN THE AREA
WHO OTHERWISE MAY MOVE AWAY IN TIMES OF AGRICULTURAL STRESS AS WE HAVE
SEEN LATELY, WILL COMPLIMENT AGRICULTURE RATHER THAN COMPETE WITH IT
IN MANY WAYS NOT LEAST OF ALL BY PROVIDING LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES TO YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WOULD OTHERWISE MOVE TO URBAN AREAS
TO SEEK EMPLOYMENT WHICH MEANS MORE YOUNG PEOPLE STAYING ON THE LAND
AND INVOLVED WITH AGRICULTURE.
THE PROJECT WILL ALSO BRING WORKERS TO THE SURROUNDING TOWNS,
CONTRIBUTING TO ECONOMIC GROWTH, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, PARTICIPANTS IN
LOCAL SPORTING AND SOCIAL CLUBS, RETAIL OUTLETS AND RATES AND TAX
PAYERS.
THIS REGION HAS A LONG HISTORY OF COOPERATION BETWEEN MINING AND
AGRICULTURE, AND WHILE I UNDERSTAND PEOPLES CONCERNS ABOUT CONFLICT OF
INTERESTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IM CONFIDENT THAT WITH ADEQUATE
OVERSIGHT, COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND TRANSPARENT OPERATIONS THE PROJECT
WILL ONLY ADD VALUE TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES, ECONOMIES AND
INDUSTRIES.
I WOULD LIKE TO REITTERATE MY STRONGEST SUPPORT FOR THE VICKERY
PROJECT.

Lock the Gate have said it better than I can but let me add that not only
I, but many voters I know, feel that the government has it so wrong on
this matter. Listen to our farmers, those that live and work there
every day, the communities that are hugely affected by the drought,
effects which will only be furthered by mining on the water table and
the river systems. Mining is a 'dead' industry; it kills the land once
it is finished and there will be precious little left in this fragile
country.
An ironic 'lucky country', indeed. NO MORES MINES.
Whitehaven already has an approval for a mine at the site, but with
this project the company wants to more than double the volume of coal
it mines every year, to 10 million tonnes. The infrastructure the
company is proposing has larger capacity than the proposed mine, and
farmers know from bitter experience that coal mines tend to grow...
The company proposes a new rail crossing over the Namoi River and
floodplain and a new large coal handling facility that can process
coal from other mines in the region.
Thanks to the efforts of farmers fighting the mine, Whitehaven was
forced to move its pits a little further away from the Namoi River,
but the pits now come close to the edge of the Namoi's alluvial
aquifer, the productive groundwater that underlies the river, and
feeds it. The pits will induce leakage from the alluvial aquifer and
the Namoi River itself.
People in the small community of Boggabri believe the community cannot
handle a fifth mine in close proximity to the town. They're concerned
that the scale is too large for the town to cope with.
The mine will be located close to the historically significant
property and homestead "Kurumbede" which was the inspiration for
several Dorothea Mackellar poems including the famous "My Country."
One outbuilding at Kurumbede will be destroyed by mining and the
homestead could suffer from the vibration of blasting and the loss of
scenic value and quietude.
The area adjacent to the proposed mine is strategic agricultural land
and the impacts of dust and noise will make this land unliveable and
likely impact the quality of crops grown there.
Already, 76 family farms have been purchased by Whitehaven in close
proximity to the town of Boggabri. This has hollowed out the township,
affected local businesses and rent the social fabric of the district.
This proposal will mean more rural properties bought up because of air
and noise pollution, irreversibly changing Boggabri.

Dear Government,

I have worked for the mining industry for over 10 years. I have been
involved in not only the design of new mines but also with mine
expansions. I believe in the cooperation of both the mining industry
and the agricultural industry however am constantly surprised at the
lack of curtesy and respect given to the smaller of the communities.

When reading the EIS I found myself openly apologising "I am so
sorry". The noise levels were such that there will be sleep
disturbance. The EPA approval guidelines indicates where levels are
"Significant" there must be voluntary acquisition or some type of
commercial agreement. I found that the mine purposely lied, indicating
they actually have met these requirements for approval. More
importantly speaking to acoustic experts the noise levels have been
understated in the modelling. This means more then one house could be
"Significant".

The modelling is understated because the mine has failed to account
for site conditions as methodology has not noted the river or has
indicated any modification to noise absorption factors caused by
water. Water being the boundary between homes and the mine. This means
it can only be assumed the modelling used the standard 50% noise
absorption factor for ground and has not adopted any data to represent
the water at 0% absorption. So we have estimated another 0.5 - 2 more
decibels.

As an engineer we simply place infrastructure wherever we want, and
mitigate afterwards. So if you ask yourself has the mine done
everything to mitigate impacts, perhaps you should look at the size of
the lease boundary. Did they have to put a rail line directly opposite
the river? If this mine cannot comply to the minimum standards then
ask them to shift the rail loop and construct a visual/noise bund. I
can re-align and re-run a modelled rail loop within a day, it's not
that hard


Yours Sincerely

Ms Karen Barlow

B.B & B.ENG(Hons), MIE(Aus)
10 years experience civil engineer (Mining Industry)

P.S - The alternative

You can force people out with lack of sleep and call the acquisition
"voluntary" which is the same as pissing on people and not having the
curtesy of calling it rain. WhiteHaven used to be the place across
from the river, that wasn't the mine and now we are seeing 21 years of
unrest. If I had my choice that mine would not be going through "My
Country" * Dorothea McKellars poem

I strongly object to the Vickery extension project as it will have an
unacceptable negative impact on the environment and local community.
The locals who live in this area have reported many substantial
breaches in the terms of the existing mining operation by Whitehaven
coal . If the current mine is not being operated within the law, there
is no reason to believe the expansion would be run any differently.
Australia's farmland and farming communities are already under huge
pressure. This project should not proceed.

Its about time our government listens to the needs of Australian
landholders instead of taking money from multinational companies, stop
selling off Australia.
If this continues it will only end one way, none of us will have a say
in our future, stop being greedy bastards politicians and do your jobs
and serve the people who elected you, not the people who bribe you.

I am concerned about the impact of the proposed Vickery Mine on the
surrounding the Namoi River, farmland, the groundwater and climate
change.

I have visited the Liverpool Plains district a number of times, and
have been dismayed by the impact of open cut coal mining on what has
been productive agricultural land and native forest. As a resident of
Wollongong residing within 3km of coal stockpiles, I am very aware of
the impact of coal dust on the amenity and respiratory health of the
surrounding area. I work for a food co-operative that focuses on
Australian-grown produce, and sources products from the Liverpool
Plains. It is more important that the long-term viability of this
important food production area is preserved. The proposed Vickery Mine
will damage farming viability in the region, as well as adding to the
cumulative impact of displacing farmers for short-term coal
extraction.

I am also concerned that expanding the coal mine will exacerbate
climate change. Considering the recent Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change Report that shows we need to cut greenhouse gas
emissions now, it's imperative to climate stability that the coal
remains buried, and the carbon it contains remains sequestered.

I am concerned that the cumulative impact of Whitehaven Coal's mining
operations have been adequately accessed by this latest proposal. I
urge you to reject the proposed Vickery Mine.

Whitehaven Coal is an untrustworthy, corrupt entity. They have already
breached so many of their approval guidelines and caused such nuisance
and loss of amenity and water to locals through their other mines in
the area like the Maules Creek Mine, the last thing we should allow is
their expansion.
Whitehaven already has an approval for a mine at the site, but with
this project the company wants to more than double the volume of coal
it mines every year, to 10 million tonnes. The infrastructure the
company is proposing has larger capacity than the proposed mine, and
farmers know from bitter experience that coal mines tend to grow...
The company proposes a new rail crossing over the Namoi River and
floodplain and a new large coal handling facility that can process
coal from other mines in the region.
Thanks to the efforts of farmers fighting the mine, Whitehaven was
forced to move its pits a little further away from the Namoi River,
but the pits now come close to the edge of the Namoi's alluvial
aquifer, the productive groundwater that underlies the river, and
feeds it. The pits will induce leakage from the alluvial aquifer and
the Namoi River itself.
People in the small community of Boggabri believe the community cannot
handle a fifth mine in close proximity to the town. They're concerned
that the scale is too large for the town to cope with.
The mine will be located close to the historically significant
property and homestead "Kurumbede" which was the inspiration for
several Dorothea Mackellar poems including the famous "My Country."
One outbuilding at Kurumbede will be destroyed by mining and the
homestead could suffer from the vibration of blasting and the loss of
scenic value and quietude.
The area adjacent to the proposed mine is strategic agricultural land
and the impacts of dust and noise will make this land unliveable and
likely impact the quality of crops grown there.
Already, 76 family farms have been purchased by Whitehaven in close
proximity to the town of Boggabri. This has hollowed out the township,
affected local businesses and rent the social fabric of the district.
This proposal will mean more rural properties bought up because of air
and noise pollution, irreversibly changing Boggabri.

I believe the mining company is getting greedy trying to take up more of
our farmers land, if the government bodies keep letting this happen,
we the people will starve, why can't you government departments see
that it is the farmers that we should be looking after for the future
generations of this country. all the big business in this country are
just getting greedier by the minute.

I believe that the extension of the Vickery Mine would be an absolute
assest to this region. You only have to go the junior soccer on a
Saturday morning, to see the positive impact that the mines are having
on the local community. The additional revenue from the Vickery Mine
Extension would not only assist the local business but the whole
community. It would be a travesty if this extension was not to proceed
due to a minority of people, who are generally from out of town and do
not see the wonderful things it does/bring to the local community.

It is time our Governments started listening to the people and governing
for them instead of big companies. Australia is being destroyed by
mining companies and this needs to stop immediately. The driest
continent on earth and preference is being given to destroying it
instead of preserving it for future generations. We can't eat or drink
coal or money. Shame on those allowing this to happen all for the sake
of greed.

Vickery project will be an exciting opportunity for growth in our local
region. As part of my role within Whitehaven, I target and recruit
students and youth for jobs within the Trades and Engineering sector.
This project will expand these opportunities available, training and
developing our future leaders of tomorrow.

My opinion is that it's another extension to employment for the Namoi
valley. Considering the drought and the job losses as a result, it
would be another avenue for employment. There are coal mines
surrounding the victory site already so it wouldn't create a problem
for farmers as they already have these sites in operation.

The Vickery project will offer much needed jobs and economic growth to
this region.

The Vickery project will provide significant social and economic benefits
to the Gunnedah region and to New South Wales while having minimal
impact on the amenities of the surrounding area.

i support the Vickery approval has this will mean more jobs for local
people