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The Wallarah 2 Coal Project is a proposal for an underground coal mine in the Wyong area.
Exploration activities for the mine date back to 1995, when the first exploration lease was issued. A large coal resource was later identified and a mine plan developed for the western part of the exploration area that would extract coal from depths of between 350 metres and 650 metres.
The project has been designed to ensure that the Central Coast water supply is protected and all major independent assessments to date have all concluded that these protections would be sufficient.
Two independent water reviews, the NSW Planning Assessment Commission and the Department of Planning have all found that any potential impacts from the proposed mine on the region's water supply system were negligible and manageable.
A previous application was refused by the NSW Government in March 2011 however water supply was not among the reasons given for refusal.
The Wallarah 2 Coal Project team has assessed the reasons for refusal, which mainly relate to a lack of detailed information about subsidence, ecology and archaeology impacts in the most westerly area of the mine plan.
Additional studies are now being undertaken and the results will be used to complete a new application planned for lodgement in 2012. It is anticipated that the assessment process would then take about 12 months and involve extensive further community consultation.
The proposed mine will create 300 direct and over 700 indirect permanent jobs. The first three years of construction alone will generate more than 5,000 jobs and $1 billion in capital expenditure and investment in the local economy.
Central Coast Water Assessment
The following table provides a snapshot of the key outcomes of a special Government appointed inquiry, an independent water review, an international peer review of water and a Planning Assessment Commission panel inquiry.
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