“It’s exasperating,” Coolmore principal Tom Magnier said.“We are in this again for the fifth time — it is a life-or-death battle for us.”
The proposed Maxwell Underground Coal Mine will stop just 160m from the immaculately fenced, rolling green pastures of the stud that is home to some of the biggest names in racing, including Sunlight and Invincibella, who together this year cost more than $5 million.“We thought we got certainty the last time and went out and spent $30 million on bringing world-class bloodstock to the farm,” Mr Magnier said.American Triple Crown winners Justify and American Pharoah are standing at the stud.
Drone footage of the Golden Highway at Jerrys Plains and Coolmore stud.
“Australia is the best place in the world to breed fast horses and the industry in Australia is going from strength to strength,” he said. “Why put that at risk when demand for coal is dying?”At stake is the heart of the Hunter Valley horse breeding operation which supports an industry that employs more than 53,000 people in NSW and pumps $2.6 billion into the state economy.The Planning Assessment Commission rejected Anglo American’s proposal for a giant open-cut coal mine in 2017 because of noise and air quality risks to the horses.But it did not die.The rights were bought by Malabar Coal, which relaunched it as an underground coal mine that its owners insist will not have an impact on the studs.
The Independent Planning Commission is expected to deliver its verdict on the project just before Christmas.Mr Magnier said even though it would be underground the damage the mine would wreak remained exactly the same.“It’s all down to the water, the experts and planning department don’t dispute that the water in the Hunter Valley has been affected by mining,” he said.“All of our experts say this proposal has not been investigated properly.“It’s an underground mine, there will be subsidence which will affect the underground water table.“Water is the lifeblood of our farm.”
Drone footage from Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley.
Sheik Mohammed Bin Rasheed Al Maktoum’s Godolphin breeding and racing operation has two studs in the valley.Woodland stud manager John Sunderland said: “There seems to be a feeling that underground mining is OK but it is not. There is a big risk this mine will affect water supply.”Neighbour Ian Moore, 72, has been virtually blind his whole life and manages his farm by familiarity and feel.“This land is like a sponge and the cumulative effect of all this mining means it’s drying out,” he said.
The proposed mine is opposite his farm. “What worries me is the shallow aquifers. We are putting everything at risk by mining them.“When they come here with their scientists and say the opposite of commonsense and what we see, it is so disappointing.“This mine has a life of 26 years. My family has been here for generations and we want a future after mining,” he said.Malabar Coal chairman Wayne Seabrook believes the proposal addresses all of the breeders’ and farmers’ concerns. “They don’t want an open-cut mine across the road, I get that,” he said.“The entrance to the mine will be out of sight, 4.5km from the studs behind a hill, and the longwall cuts beginning at 250m deep will not cross the road or go under the stud properties.“We have de-risked the project 99 per cent because we have taken away all the things that caused the PAC to reject the original proposal by Anglo.”
There would be limited blasting just to build an access road and no water would be taken from the Hunter River.“Our modelling shows that we will have minimal impacts because we have designed it to have a border of rock between us and any alluvial water,” Mr Seabrook said.“Only one bore will be affected.”He conceded that as the underground tunnels collapse behind the boring machines there would be subsidence. But he said underground aquifers would not be affected.“There will not be any surprises,” he said.
Source link
