Breeza farmer wants black soil preserved

Irrigator and mixed farmer, Andrew Pursehouse, Breeza Station - which sprawls across the black soil - has helped raise coin in the community to fund a range of independent social and environmental studies.

He, along with a band of concerned locals, will present the information to the government's independent approvals body, the Planning and Assessment Commission, when hearings kick off in Gunnedah on Thursday, June 26.

"I am convinced (Shenhua's Watermark coal project) is just stupid," said Mr Pursehouse.

"This should be a concentrated agricultural region, not a mining region.

"This country can produce anything - it's got the best soil in the world, the best climate in eastern Australia for growing crops.

"Why put that at risk for something that could last just 30 or 40 years?"

About two-thirds of Mr Pursehouse's revenue comes from cotton. He fears dust from the mine may impact his crop, which he said could be carried across his fields by prevailing winds.

"Dust could just annihilate the lovely, fluffy white cotton and suddenly it has gone from white to charcoal," he said.

"Who is going to cover our losses then?"

Mr Pursehouse said the mine also had the potential to increase pressure on water resources.

Irrigators in the district had taken a 65 per cent cut to allocations in the past 15 years to become sustainable, he said.

"We are bringing in another uncertainty which could impact the water available for farmers."

Cotton Australia chief executive Adam Kay agrees the impact could be negative for cotton farmers.

Looking across the Breeza plain, he said, "when you come out here, and stand on this site, you get it".

"The proponent can have inches-thick Environmental Impact Statements, but there has to be a bit of commonsense about farmland as well,"?Mr Kay said.

He said Cotton Australia was "particularly disappointed" with the NSW government's Gateway Panel process.

He praised the scientific expertise the panel possessed, but criticised its lack of power to intervene in the approval process.