The scoping paper covers many of the known issues coal projects must often overcome to gain state government approval, but also calls for “stronger” regulation of the coal-related industries.

At the same time the NSW Coalition – which is widely tipped to win government in the March election – is actively consulting with coal mining and rural communities to develop its own strategy, shadow treasurer Mike Baird told ILN in Sydney.

Baird said NSW was slow to formulate adequate community consultation around coal and coal seam gas development and as a result was ceding projects to Queensland.

“There needs to be circuit breaker,” he said after a panel discussion on mining organised by the NSW Minerals Council.

“There needs to be rigour in decision-making and community concerns need to be taken on and there needs to be more collaboration.

“We need to pursue a balanced policy. It doesn’t surprise me that if you make restrictive policies you limit the economic contribution of the sector.”

The Coalition was committed to returning 30% of revenue generated from mining communities back to regional infrastructure through its Restart NSW policy.

“It would be done on an independent basis to avoid pork-barrelling,” Baird said.

He also told ILN that if elected, the Coalition would attempt to extricate the NSW government from its commitment to develop the Cobbora mine near Mudgee in order to provide cheap coal for the power stations recently sold off in a controversial eleventh hour sale by NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal.

“The government needs to get out of coal mining,” Baird said.

Detailed under the terms of reference in the scoping paper, the NSW government aims to achieve the following objectives with its strategy:

• Facilitate sustainable development of the coal mining industry and associated activities (including coal seam methane) in identified mining regions alongside continued development of existing industries, including agriculture

• Minimise any adverse health, environmental, food production and land-use impacts, including cumulative impacts associated with development of the industry
• Ensure the industry is regulated efficiently and effectively
• Strengthen the communication between government, industry and the community on mining-related matters.

“We want to ensure that growth of the industry is not at the expense of environmental qualities, and that the coal industry is able to co-exist with other industries such as agriculture,” Planning Minister and chairman of the strategy taskforce Tony Kelly said.

The stakeholder reference group to assist the development of the strategy includes mining-related councils, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union.

It also includes representatives from the Total Environment Centre, the NSW Farmers Association and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

The first public meeting to discuss the scoping paper is planned for Gunnedah Town Hall on February 10, while other forums are likely to be held in coal mining regions.

“The New South Wales government is embarking on a series of regional forums to make sure we can identify the key local issues in regard to coal and gas mining,” Kelly said.

NSW Minerals Council chief executive Nikki Williams was pleased to be part of the stakeholder reference group.

“We know there are concerns in the community about the scale of the development of mineral resources in some parts of the state,” she said.

“That is why we are working directly with the community to address those issues through programs like the Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue.

“While we will continue to manage and minimise the impacts of mining, this process will help to set out the principles for the appropriate development of the state’s resources, whether animal, vegetable or mineral.”

Industry stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback to the scoping paper, which is under exhibition until April 15.

Submissions can be emailed to: coalandgasstrategy@planning.nsw.gov.au

Please click on the pdf document to the right of screen under related links and downloads to view the scoping paper.