Hunter Valley wine producers and tourist operators launch #NoNewMinesInOurVines against the expansion of coal mines

Their campaign, #NoNewMinesInOurVines was launched on Wednesday in direct response to a Yancoal application for the renewal of exploration licenses for two new coal mines between Pokolbin and Broke-Fordwich, extending into the Pokolbin State Forest.

That is the heart of the wine country, says Chris Tyrrell, a director of the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association, as well representing the fifth generation of Tyrrells to live and work on their land.

"My family has been living and working on this same property for over 160 years now and the area that these exploration licenses are proposed for essentially backs onto our property," Mr Tyrrell said on Wednesday.

"What the industry and we are against is the need for any new coal mines. It's early in the piece but we want to make as much noise as possible and put our flag in the ground before it escalates."

The campaign also calls on the NSW Government to create a ring of protection around the Hunter Valley's "historic wine tourism area", in a similar way to those created by the South Australian and West Australian state government in the Barossa Valley and Margaret River wine regions respectively.

A survey being conducted in conjunction with the campaign seeks input from visitors to the region as to whether they would support any type of mining-related expansion in the area, and if that was approved, whether they would still visit the Hunter as opposed to another region.

The CEO of the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association, Amy Cooper, said the group was calling on the state government to protect the country's oldest continuously operating wine region.

"We believe it's important to be advocating on the issue given there's the risk of the establishment of new mining operations right in the heart of the Hunter Valley wine tourism region," she said.

"We would like to see legislation to protect this very nationally important wine region."

Sally Scarborough, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Scarborough Wine Co and spokeswoman for the campaign said they were not against mining in general.

"The operation of mines in the middle of such an important viticulture and tourism cluster would have detrimental consequences to the industries," she said. New mines proposed for the region would result in environmental damage, impact prime viticultural land, and have negative consequences for the region's future economy, she said.

A spokesman for Yancoal said the application process was likely to take several years. If granted, the lease would allow a "works program that focuses on the assessment and study of a potential resource, rather than field activities such as exploration drilling". No 'open-cut exploration or future mining activities' were being considered in that specific area, he said.

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