The National Parks Association of NSW has welcomed coal mining company South32’s abandonment of their proposed expansion of the Dendrobium mine under Sydney’s drinking water catchment. We now call on Environment Minister to take this opportunity for a major reset on the future of Sydney’s drinking water catchments.
‘This decision is all about the proponent acknowledging that the economics of the project don’t stack up’ noted NPA CEO Gary Dunnett.
‘The proposal should never have got to this point. The Independent Planning Commission already refused the same kind of aggressive mining on the grounds of unacceptable environmental damage. Rather than accept that refusal, the NSW Government used every possible strategy to bludgeon the project through a broken planning system, only to have the proponent pull the plug.
‘We need to follow the same approach as at Warragamba, and provide permanent protection to these catchment lands by gazetting them as conservation reserves. These areas need the highest level of protection if we want them to deliver clean water, preserve biodiversity and store carbon.
‘It’s time to recognise that coal mining has no future in drinking water catchments’ concluded Mr Dunnett.
ENDS.
Media Contacts: Dr Peter Turner, NPA Mining Projects Science Officer & Gary Dunnett, NPA CEO (02)9299 0000
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