The New South Wales (NSW) Planning Assessment Commission (PCA) will conduct a public hearing in Singleton to hear more submissions from the public with regard to an extension of Rio Tinto‘s Mount Thorley Warkworth open-cut coal mine.
The hearing, to be held on 7 September, will consider the impact of the project on the back of proposed changes to State Environmental Planning Policy.
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Planning Minister Rob Stokes has directed PAC to hold the public hearing on applications to continue operating the 30-year old mine.
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Stokes saying: "A public review for the [Rio Tinto] project will be held to ensure a fair opportunity for everyone to comment on the proposal."
According to Rio Tinto, the proposed change to the mining policy was a change that was made at the end of the assessment process.
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In June, the NSW Government released a proposed draft amendment to the SEPP that considers the significance of mined resources when determining mine projects.
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By GlobalDataStokes said that the amendment requires decision makers to consider the likely environmental, social and economic impacts of a mining development.
Opponents of the extension claim that the Mount Thorley Warkworth mine, which employs 1300 people, will come within 2.6 km of the nearby hamlet of Bulga and fear a further expansion will bring the open pit even closer.
Image: Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley Warkworth mine employs 1300 people. Photo: Copyright © 2014 Rio Tinto.
