OPEN CUT MINE STOPPED AS COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF HUNTER VALLEY RESIDENT

The New South Wales Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that an elderly Hunter Valley resident cannot be forced to sell her property to make way for an open cut mine.

The ruling upholds a decision in the Land and Environment Court last year, which found Camberwell’s Wendy Bowman must voluntarily sell her property for Yancoal’s Ashton South East Open Cut mine to go ahead.

The Court of Appeal ruling will prevent the mine from going ahead, with Ms Bowman’s property containing around half of the coal resource the company intended to mine.

Bev Smiles from the Hunter Environment Lobby has welcomed the decision.

“Today’s decision is great news for Wendy and her neighbours, but sadly, most coal mine approvals in NSW cannot be challenged in court”, she said.

“Today’s court ruling proves that sometimes, at least, government’s make the wrong decision when handing out mine approvals. Natural justice and procedural fairness dictate that community’s should be allowed to challenge inappropriate mining approvals. Sadly, most communities don’t have that right.”