Hume Coal is hoping to explore and develop a mine in the rural area around Sutton Forrest, which contains the homes of prominent residents including that of actress Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban.
The court confirmed there was no legal impediment to Hume Coal accessing Carters Lane to conduct its lawful exploration activities, while orders were issued to remove the illegal blockade on the road.
The orders were made in Justice Sheahan’s final judgement in relation to Hume Coal’s request for an injunction to allow access via Carters Lane to a property where it had a valid land access agreement in place with the owners.
Justice Sheahan found the restrictive covenant did not preclude Hume Coal conducting exploration drilling on those properties in the vicinity of Carters Lane and Hume Coal was entitled to access the Koltai property via the right of carriageway that exists on Carters Lane.
Hume Coal project manager Tim Rheinberger said the decision confirmed the company’s position that there had been no legal impediment to it accessing the Koltai property to undertake exploration and environmental monitoring.
“It also validates our position that a covenant over a number of properties in the vicinity has no bearing on our activities,” he said.
“While we are pleased with the decision, we are deeply disappointed that the owners of Carters Lane and the Southern Highlands Coal Action Group set up the blockade and caused this unnecessary action in the first place.
“The simple fact is we have a legally valid and negotiated access agreement in place with the landowners to undertake the exploration work. While we respect people’s right to peaceful and lawful protest, today’s decision confirms those blocking access are doing so illegally.
“The independent umpire has heard all of the issues and has made a clear decision.”
Hume Coal, a joint initiative of Korean steel giant POSCO and Cockatoo Coal, holds Exploration Authorisation 349, which covers an area of 89km2 in the Southern Highlands. Authorisation 349 allows coal exploration activities in an area west of Moss Vale and incorporates parts of the Belanglo State Forest.
Coal exploration that incorporates the Hume Project area was first granted in 1967 and various exploration programs have been undertaken since then.
Rheinberger said the company now expected that the protestors would respect the decision of the court and remove the blockade.
“We will make contact with the organisers seeking confirmation when this will occur so we can safely access the property,” he said.
“Legal action is expensive and time consuming and given the involvement of the Environmental Defenders Office, a taxpayer-subsidised organisation, legitimate questions need to be asked about who is ultimately meeting the bill for this legal action.
“The exploration process is very low impact, highly regulated and poses no threat to the local environment. Exploration does not change the character of the land on which we drill and each drill site is returned to its original state following rehabilitation.
“We have already explored on private properties in the area and drilled more than 80 holes across the authorisation without any incident.”
Hume Coal recently received renewal of Authorisation 349 and it has put in place an exploration program that seeks to determine the feasibility of project within the next renewal period.
It is currently in negotiations with properties representing fewer than 3% of all properties in the lease area, Rheinberger said.
“We hope access to these properties will allow us to complete the balance of our exploration program,” he said.
