Coal Mining Sites Have a Working Future
Here in the Hunter we all know how dangerous coal mining can be. The Jim Comerford Memorial Wall at Aberdare, in Cessnock, lists almost 1,800 men and women that have died while working in the industry – the youngest being just 9 years old and the oldest being 80.
Safety is sometimes the reason a mine stops chasing the coal. Recently the Hunter was informed that Ashton Mine (near Singleton) would close as the coal seam becomes too dangerous to mine.
Coal mines also close due to financial decisions of their owners – where the profit is no longer big enough to make them happy enough to keep going. This is always felt as a kick in the guts to local workers and communities who were “business partners” in the good times of profits and then abandoned in the harder times.
In recent years, a number of Hunter Valley based coal mines have made the decision to close. These announcements raise the question of where to for the workers; what next for local businesses that had contracts with the mines; and what happens to the mining land.
Last week I was happy to be with the NSW Planning Minister, Paul Scully, on-site at the Mount Arthur coal mine, that has announced it will close in 2030. In recognising the challenges that this will bring for the 1,000 workers and their families, the NSW Government is working with the mine owners BHP, to plan for the future of the site.
I am pleased to say that under a pilot trial for Mount Arthur we are looking at options to use this heavily mined land to create new jobs. As many as 7,000 jobs could be created on this site, many of them of a heavy industrial nature, thanks to the facilities that already exist, like massive work sheds, concrete pads, truck washdown bays, rail links and of course a wide road network across the site. The mine is so deep that there is also the potential for a pumped hydro electricity generating system.
Under the current planning rules, a coal mine, when it closes, must be restored back to its natural state of rolling grassy hills and trees. This would normally have required all of those very useful facilities to be torn down and removed from site.
The obvious question is why you would do that at the same time as looking for new industries to set up, to replace the thousands of lost jobs. So why not use the attraction of terrific existing facilities to help lure new industry?
BHP have agreed that they could use some of their remaining years and equipment to help shape the Mount Arthur site for future industries. This creates a terrific opportunity between State Government and BHP and an excellent opportunity for interested business. And most importantly it will help to give confidence to workers across the Hunter.
We have also announced a similar trial for the former West Wallsend coal mine site near Teralba and West Wallsend, on the western edge of Lake Macquarie. The proposal for this site is a little bit different as the mine ceased operating back in 2012 and has been working toward revegetation and rehabilitation for more than 10 years. However, the new trial will still allow for 500 hectares of potential industrial land and as many as 1,100 jobs.
In announcing these 2 trials, the intention is not to let coal mines off from their responsibility to clean up after themselves. The starting point for each of these mine sites is still to look toward rehabilitation unless they can show that their existing facilities could be home to a new business that needs the bits and pieces to remain on site. And in coming years the NSW Government will review these trials and ask itself whether or not these trials delivered what we hoped they would in terms of jobs and a bright future for Hunter workers.