Sunnyside coal proposal

SUNNYSIDE COAL MINE PROPOSAL

Proponent: NCIG member Whitehaven Coal.

Location: In the Gunnedah Basin of Northern NSW, which the industry refers to as the “new coal frontier”. The Sunnyside proposal is 15km west of Gunnedah.

Proposal: Whitehaven Coal are proposing to up to 160 hectare open-cut mine, producing 1 million tonnes of coal per year.

The coal from the mine (which would be tiny by Hunter Valley standards) would produce about two and a half million tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide every year (comparison: the NSW metal production industry produced a bit over 7 million tonnes in 2004).

Process as at end December 2006: The Director General of the Planning Department has provided Whitehaven with the Requirements for the Environmental Assessment (EARs). Interestingly, the EARs require an “assessment of greenhouse gases emitted generated by...the transport of the coal to the Port of Newcastle”, but do not require an assessment of the climate change impacts of the eventual burning of the coal.

Keep up to date on the NSW Planning Department website: http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/register2006.asp#north

Further info:
www.whitehaven.net.au
enquiries@whitehaven.net.au

Check out this map of the Whitehaven empire

Local contacts:
We are not aware of any local groups working against this proposal, let us know if you are.