PLEA Network

8 February 2019, Renew Economy, NSW coal mine ruled out due to climate change, in landmark court decision. Australia’s coal-lump caressing prime minister won’t speak its name, but a NSW judge has cited climate change in a landmark ruling on Friday, blocking plans to develop an open-cut coal mine in the state’s Hunter Valley region. Chief judge Brian Preston dismissed an appeal by Gloucester Resources, which was seeking – via the NSW Land and Environment Court – to overturn the state government’s rejection of the Rocky Hill mine, proposed for around 1km from a retirement community. The NSW Department of Planning rejected the development application of the Gloucester Resources project in October 2017, citing the impact it would have on the nearby town, its people and amenity, but not mentioning climate. In delivering his judgment, Preston – who co-founded the NSW Environmental Defenders Office – said that an open-cut coal mine in the Gloucester Valley “would be in the wrong place at the wrong time”. Read more here