Angus Place Mine Extension

About the Project

In December 2020, Centennial Coal submitted an amendment report for its proposal to expand longwall mining at the Angus Place Mine. It proposed increasing the extraction rate of the mine to 4.5 million tonnes per annum of coal.

The proposal had the potential to impact several threatened species and ecological communities  including the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink, the vulnerable Large-eared Pied Bat and the vulnerable Koala and the endangered Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone.

 

Our Work

February 2021 – We made a submission to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment that addressed impacts to threatened species.

Our submission addressed these key issues:

• lack of appropriate surveys for the Blue Mountains Water Skink, the Large-eared Pied Bat and the Koala;
• likely bedrock fracturing and swamp cracking on Tri Star and Twin Gully Swamps;
• likely impacts to the Koala within the 26.5° angle of draw; and
• cumulative impacts to the local koala population from the 2019-2020 Gospers Mountain bushfire.

 

Grassroots Movement

At each stage of the consultation process, grassroots community groups such as Lithgow Environment Group, the Coolong Foundation for Wildnerness and the Gardens of Stone Alliance played a key role in organising a response to Centennial’s proposal. In particular, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW ran a public campaign to oppose the project.

 

Results

On 2 August 2021, Centennial Coal withdrew its application for the project.