BYLONG will take hay and valley farm produce to Sydney today for a peaceful demonstration outside the Independent Planning Commission against a Korean Government-backed coal mine.
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Bylong sheep farmer Phil Kennedy will be one of a contingent from the valley to stage the protest along with Sydney residents appalled by the prospect of the first coal mine in a valley recognised for its unique natural and cultural heritage.
"There are just so many reasons why this mine cannot go ahead," Mr Kennedy said.
"We help produce food and fibre for the rest of NSW in this valley, yet KEPCO and the Department of Planning think a dirty great coal mine is better use of this country. We're visiting the Independent Planning Commission to let them know this mine must be rejected."
The IPC is in the final stages of making a determination on the controversial coal mine that was first proposed in 2010 after Korean Government-backed energy company KEPCO bought an exploration licence from Anglo American.
A final decision is expected in coming weeks.
KEPCO proposes to run an open cut and underground mine complex for 25 years and mine up to 6.5 million tonnes of coal per year for use in the domestic Korean energy market.
The project would provide 450 jobs and deliver $278 million in royalties to NSW, KEPCO said.
The demonstration outside the IPC's Elizabeth Street offices from noon comes after the proposed mine, along with other coal mines in and around the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, were listed as a cause of concern at the recent World Heritage Committee meeting in Azerbaijan.
It also comes after a country music show at Bylong on the weekend starring Greg and Sara Storer who joined the call for the coal project to be scrapped.
Lock the Gate spokesperson Nic Clyde said the mine would ravage high quality farmland and drain underground water aquifers in a previously unmined rural valley.
"We must not compromise the integrity of a state significant heritage valley and its unique agricultural landscape, nor must we put at risk World Heritage values for the sake of a single, short-term coal mine," Mr Clyde said.
"The combined open cut and underground mine would produce 6.5 million tonnes of thermal coal for the export market, and would create more than five times the carbon emissions than the now scrapped Rocky Hill mine, which was rejected in the Land and Environment Court in February in part due to the greenhouse gases it would produce."
