Queensland Government refuses New Acland Coal’s application to expand its coal mine
16 February 2018
On 14 February 2018, the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment and Science (the Department) issued its decision to refuse New Acland Coal’s application to amend its environmental authority. Amending the environmental authority is an essential requirement for the New Acland Coal Mine stage 3 expansion.
The application had already been considered and recommended against by the Land Court in a 459-page decision. The Department’s media statement noted that its “decision to refuse the application is in line with the recommendation of the Land Court which was handed down in May 2017. This followed 99 days of expert and lay witness testimony regarding the potential impacts of the project.”
The Land Court’s decision is currently subject to judicial review proceedings brought by New Acland. In addition, there are also mining lease applications yet to be decided by the Department which play an important role in the stage 3 expansion.
If the judicial review proceeding invalidates or sets aside the Land Court recommendation, New Acland will likely file similar judicial review proceedings against the Department’s decision to refuse its application.
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