Almost one-quarter of freehold land in the Muswellbrook Local Government Area and large chunks of other parts of northern NSW are now owned or occupied by coal companies, a survey of land records by Lock the Gate shows.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The holdings, amounting to 284,093 hectares across eight local government areas, include 20,470 hectares of leases in state forests and other public lands.
Mining also accounts for significant shares of agricultural land in those two areas, with 23-27 per cent of the Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land held by the coal companies. The tally includes areas to be set aside to offset mine destruction of threatened vegetation.
"Some people will get a big shock when they see these figures," said Stewart Mitchell, a long-time resident of Bulga near three big coalmines in the Singleton area.
"It's the gradual depletion of good arable farmland," said Mr Mitchell, adding his ancestors were the first European settlers in the Bulga region 190 years ago. Farms near mines were also likely to be affected by coal dust, noise, and water impacts.
.
Mining accounted for just 0.1 per cent of NSW's land compared with 76 per cent for agriculture, a spokesman for the NSW Minerals Council said. "It's critical to understand that land owned by mining companies is often in the stages of rehabilitation, or being leased out and farmed."
Multinational companies own or occupy 86 per cent of the land controlled in the eight LGAs, the report found.
Among the LGAs surveyed, the rich farmlands of the Liverpool Plains have so far seen only limited acquisition by the coalminers – at just 5038 hectares or about 1 per cent of the area.
The impact of the purchases is not just in the size of the land taken up but also in the effects on local communities as miners buy up properties, he said.
Rio Tinto, for instance, has been seeking to buy at least 24 properties in Bulga including the shop and service station and the local hotel as part of plans to expand its Mount Thorley mine.
"Our fears are that once they purchase those commercial properties, they'll close them down, and that spells the end of our township," Mr Mitchell said.
Rio's plans to expand its Mount Thorley mine have been knocked back twice in the courts. The state's Planning Assessment Commission is expected to give its verdict on an amended proposal – which can't be challenged on legal grounds – on February 22.
A spokesman for Rio said the company had no interest in commercial properties and that an earlier PAC decision had provided for voluntary acquisition of the 24 sites.
"A number of local residents, based on their individual circumstances, have expressed a desire for voluntary acquisition of their properties," a spokesman for Rio said.
"[The company] has committed to honouring the voluntary acquisition rights granted to some residents under the Warkworth Extension 2012 planning approval determined by the Planning Assessment Commission," he said. "Our intention would be to lease out any properties purchased, assuming they are in suitable condition."
