NSW: Tiny Bulga locks gate against Rio Tinto !

The Lock the Gate Alliance has welcomed this morning's judgement in the NSW Land & Environment Court, which overturns the approval of Rio Tinto's (Coal & Allied's) proposed Warkworth open cut coal mine expansion near Bulga, in the Hunter Valley.

The Warkworth Extension was approved by the NSW O'Farrell Government in February 2012, against the wishes of the adjacent community of Bulga. While NSW law usually prohibits merits-based legal challenges to coal mine approvals, a brief change in the law allowed The Bulga-Milbrodale Progress Association to challenge the approval of the mine in the Court.

“This is a huge win for the community of Bulga, which would have been all but wiped off the map by this coal mine,” said Steve Phillips, Hunter regional coordinator for Lock the Gate. “This mine would have had major impacts on air quality and people's health. It would have destroyed an extremely rare and endangered ecosystem, home to 17 threatened native animal species".

Bulgar residents welcome the news

Margueritte Hannaberry, who owns and runs the Cockfighter Creek Tavern on Putty Road with partner Paul Burgess, said it was a ‘‘great feeling’’ and she instantly began ringing around members of the Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association to find out more.

"Everyone on the progress association is over the moon, it’s a massive relief,’’ she said.
"We’ve got a lot of happy people who were born and bred in Bulga today."

Mr Burgess said the mine would have destroyed the town.

"People have been dropping in for a beer and a chat about the decision in Sydney,’’ he said.
"The pub was right in the acquisition zone relevant to the expansion of the mine so we would have had to sell up. The town would have been fairly uninhabitable anyway, cut off from Jerrys Plains and Denman and really a shell of itself."

In a scathing judgment, Justice Brian Preston, chief judge of the Land and Environment Court, criticised the government’s approval of the proposed Warkworth mine, which he said could damage Bulga's "sense of place".

Grovelling to the mining magnates the Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said he was seeking legal advice on courses of action available to the government in the face of the community win.

Rio Tinto said the ability of the community to challenge the government’s decision was "significantly obstructing investment and job creation in NSW."