The fate of a multimillion-dollar proposal to dramatically extend the life and extraction volumes of a massive coal mine near Wollongong has been decided by the NSW Independent Planning Commission. The $956 million Dendrobium Extension Project by South32 Limited was brought before the IPC on Friday, fighting to see the extension of the coal mine’s life to 2048, from 2024.

Despite an earlier whole-of-government: assessment by NSW Planning, Industry & Environment — which argued the extension was approvable and in the public interest — the IPC argued the project “risks long-term and irreversible damage to Greater Sydney and the Illawarra’s drinking water catchment”.

The NSW Planning Department received more than 50 public objections to the proposal, sparking the consent authority being handed over to the IPC.

The Independent Planning Commission has sealed the fate of a major mine expansion near Wollongong — which was feared to have an irreversible impact on our drinking water.

Jake McCallum and Madeline Crittenden

February 5, 2021 - 11:09AM Illawarra Star

The fate of a multimillion-dollar proposal to dramatically extend the life and extraction volumes of a massive coal mine near Wollongong has been decided by the NSW Independent Planning Commission.

The $956 million Dendrobium Extension Project by South32 Limited was brought before the IPC on Friday, fighting to see the extension of the coal mine’s life to 2048, from 2024.

It also called for approval to extract another 78 million tonnes of coal from two new areas near Avon and Cordeaux Dams.

Despite a whole-of-government: assessment by NSW Planning, Industry & Environment — which argued the extension was approvable and in the public interest — the IPC argued the project “risks long-term and irreversible damage to Greater Sydney and the Illawarra’s drinking water catchment”.

“The commission has today determined to refuse the state significant development application, finding the risks of adverse impacts on the environment are high, and that those impacts are not appropriately manageable and are likely to be irreversible,” a commission spokesman said.

“After careful examination of all the evidence and weighing all relevant considerations, the commission has found that the longwall mine design put forward by South32 does not achieve a balance between maximising the recovery of a coal resource of state significance and managing, minimising or mitigating the impacts on the water resources and biodiversity and other environmental values of the Metropolitan Special Area.”

Concerns were raised by WaterNSW around the mine design and impact the proposal would have on the state’s drinking supply.

“The commission notes the applicant has offered mitigation measures for remediation of selected key stream features, financial offsets for water losses and water quality impacts and an upland swamp offset site; however, a number of these measures have not been considered acceptable by the responsible Statutory agencies,” the spokesman said.

The NSW Planning Department received more than 50 public objections to the proposal, sparking the consent authority being handed over to the IPC.

Wollongong City Greens councillor Mithra Cox welcomed the decision by the IPC, after speaking against the proposal at the public hearings.

“This decision shows that water security is of vital importance. It is not good enough to ‘offset’ water losses if you have cracked and destroyed the water catchment. We know that we are facing a hotter, dryer future, and water security is vital to all of us,” she said.

“This decision also sends a strong message that our industrial sector must rapidly decarbonise using technologies like hydrogen.”

In the handing down of his decision, IPC chair Stephen O’Connor, said the project will cause significant subsidence effects, resulting in the “degradation of 25 watercourses and swamps”.

“The likely extent of subsidence impacts … introduce considerable risk of irreversible damage to 58 identified Aboriginal cultural heritage sites,” he said.

He also questioned claims of the dependence of BlueScope Steelworks on the extension of life on the coal mine.

A South32 spokesman told NewsLocal the company was reviewing the findings of the IPC.

“As outlined during the IPC public hearings, the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project would provide major economic and social benefits for Wollongong, the Illawarra region and for New South Wales,” the spokesman said.

“It would support the continued employment of 400 existing personnel and a further 100 personnel once the project is operational.

“An additional 200 jobs would be created during the construction and development phase. The project would ensure the continued supply of high-quality metallurgical coal for steelmaking.”

The company spokesman said forecasts of up to $714 million in royalties, taxes and rates were on offer, with a net benefit of AU$2.8 billion to the New South Wales economy.

“We understand the sensitivities of working within the Greater Sydney water catchment and the Metropolitan Special Area,” he said.

“We have committed to offset any surface water losses from the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project to ensure the project would be a positive contributor to the metropolitan water supply. “The extension project would not mine beneath dams, named watercourses or key stream features and has been designed to have a neutral or beneficial effect on water quality within water catchment areas.”

Labor state Natural Resources spokesman and Wollongong MP Paul Scully said the decision to “reject rather than place stringent conditions on Dendrobium’s application to extend its operations at South 32 will come as a surprise and cause uncertainty for many in the Illawarra, especially for communities that rely on mining and manufacturing”.

“This includes miners, steelworkers, Bluescope Steel, local businesses and their workers who will all have serious questions about the implications of this decision given the importance of South 32 in the Illawarra’s manufacturing supply chain,” he said.

The refusal comes just weeks after Wollondilly state Liberal MP hit out at his own government’s Planning Department for recommending the approval of expansion plans for the Tahmoor Coal Mine under the town of Bargo in the state’s Southern Highlands.

Proponents behind the underground mine, located 75km from Sydney, lodged a development application in January 2019 which would have seen impact to as many as 751 homes in the town.

However, revisions were made in August last year, reducing the number of impacted residents to 143 homes.

An assessment of the proposal by the department said expansion of the mine would result in “maximum conventional subsidence up to 1450mm for homes in the area”.

“Even at conventional levels of subsidence, NSW Planning predicts that at least 22 homes will be affected to such a degree that offers of acquisition may need to be made,” he said.

In a public meeting yesterday, Mr Smith said he has witnessed “misery” for residents in his electorate: “I don’t want that happening under my watch”.

“We are not against coal mining, I just have a real issue on the affect of coal mining on homes,” Mr Smith said.

“This has been the biggest issue that has come to my office, I have had people in tears telling me of their misery.”

One resident said he has witnessed his home “crack and move, tiles fall of the roof, your floor lifts and there are cracks in your brickwork”.

South32 Limited was contacted for comment.