DUNEDOO locals are reeling after learning the farmland that was acquired by the state government for a mine at Cobbora in 2007 will now be re-sold.
The Land understands the government received offers for the land, which could generate 12 million tonnes of thermal coal a year, but they did not meet the value of the land if it was sold for agricultural purposes.
The project, which was initiated by the former Labor government, was previously described by Premier Mike Baird as the “dud deal of the century”.
Warrumbungle Shire Council general manager Steve Loane said the failed project had devastated the Cobbora and Dunedoo communities.
“More than 90 families left town when they sold their properties to the mine project – including 23 children from the local school-bus run,” Mr Loane said.
“We want a seat at the table when the time comes to plan how the landholdings will be sold.”
After six years of reduced cashflow, local business owner Ron Gallagher, Dunedoo Rural Hardware, was disappointed the mine would not go ahead as planned.
“The sale of local farms brought my business to its knees but I hoped the mine would go ahead in the future so it would put more money through the whole system,” Mr Gallagher.
“It’s unbelievable it’s not going ahead after all this. It’s like the state government has played Russian roulette with people’s lives and livelihoods.”
To assist the community the NSW government has paid $20 million through the Cobbora Transition Fund.
Cobbora resident Rob Ingram said he was pleased “the whole sorry saga" was over but he was cynical the sale of the land would “provide relief for the community”.
Mr Ingram and his wife Penny Stevens recently finished restoring the old Cobbora village hall in the hope it might again become a “club house” for the community to help local bond. Earlier this year, they held an event to celebrate the centenary of the hall.
"Almost 160 people with fond memories of Cobbora came from across the state to celebrate the times when it was a cohesive and caring community," Mr Ingram said.
Mr Ingram feared the damage to the community was irreparable.
“Those who remained after (the government) bought up all that land lost the only neighbours they'd ever known, best friends, workmates, schoolmates ... even families were split up,” he said.
“Inevitably the land will now be sold in huge chunks. We might get 10 families to replace the 90 we lost.”
Dunedoo farmer Ian Johnston, "Oranmore", also feared the land would be sold in big parcels.
“If the land isn’t broken into smaller pieces for sale it could rule a lot of neighbouring farmers out of acquiring land to expand their operations and build on their family farms.
“It would be a big disadvantage to the community if that were to happen.”
Birriwa farmer Kerry Bourke’s property is surrounded by land now owned by the Cobbora Coal Holdings (CHC).
She fears the land will be re-sold to people or companies who don’t have genuine farming interests.
“The coal deposits will never go away and I feel the gate is now open for purchase by foreign interests,” Ms Bourke said.
Mr Sloane said it was a priority of the Warrumbungle Shire to attract new families to the area, but said the fact CHC had demolished a large number of houses on the land wouldn’t help.
Meanwhile, the NSW Environmental Protection Authority has issued two notices so far for CHC to clean up a stockpile of waste on its land from the buildings it demolished.
Some of the waste from the 44,500 hectare site contains asbestos.
