900m Acland coal mine expansion near Oakey approved by Qld Govt

900m Acland coal mine expansion near Oakey approved by Qld Govt By Emilie Gramenz Jeff Seeney PHOTO: Mr Seeney said in a statement the Queensland coordinator-general's approval was subject to 137 strict conditions. (AAP: Dan Peled - file photo) MAP: Oakey 4401 The Queensland Government has approved a $900 million mine expansion near Oakey on the state's Darling Downs. In a statement, Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the new Acland coal mine expansion would create hundreds of jobs and would be subject to more than 130 environmental conditions. A spokeswoman for Mr Seeney said the project was still subject to approval from the Federal Government and was still to be assessed under the State Government's new Regional Planning Interests Act. Mr Seeney said in a statement the Queensland coordinator-general's approval was subject to 137 strict conditions to manage the project's impact. "This mine expansion is set to create over 250 jobs during construction and another 435 operational jobs, as well as providing business opportunities in the nearby towns of Dalby, Oakey, Pittsworth and others," he said. "The reduced scope of this project in response to local concerns is a good example of a resource company working hard to achieve community confidence." Mr Seeney said the Queensland Government had not supported the original 2007 expansion plan due to its effect on high quality agricultural land and proximity to local townships. "However since 2012, the proponent has reduced the project's footprint by around 60 per cent and has relinquished 1,401 hectares or 28 per cent of the mining lease area, including the town of Acland," Mr Seeney said in a statement. Puzzled and very disappointed, farmer says Local farmer Dr Tanya Plant said she had previously raised concerns about the impact on agricultural land and was disappointed with the approval. "I'm pretty puzzled and very disappointed in how it looks," she said. "It really does seem like they haven't taken too much notice of our concerns. "They're still allowing the mine to cause a lot of noise impacts on people, it still seems like the mine's going to use an enormous amount of water. "The coal mine employment benefits are very short-term compared to what would otherwise be a sustainable agricultural community forever, potentially. "The EIS (environmental impact statement) even identifies quite a number who are going to quite probably have their underground water supplies badly impacted." Nikki Laws from the Oakey Coal Action Alliance said they would approach the Commonwealth with their concerns. "We'll make contact again - there's some really concerning issues that fall under the Federal EPBC Act (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999), and the other important thing that's under federal oversight is water," she said. "Unfortunately the water impacts are quite appalling and we think, completely unsustainable." Topics: mining-industry, mining-environmental-issues, liberal-national-party-queensland, mining-rural, public-sector, activism-and-lobbying, coal, oakey-4401, toowoomba-4350