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The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has warmly welcomed the decision by the Land Court of Queensland to recommend the New Acland Mine Stage 3 mining leases and environmental authority amendment application be granted, subject to conditions.
QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said it has taken 14 years for the project to finally reach this stage, with the initial development application lodged by New Hope Group in 2007.
Since this time, almost every New Acland employee has lost their job, and local communities and businesses have suffered greatly because of the seven-year delay in the final approval of the open-cut mine expansion.
“New Hope’s Stage 3 expansion of the New Acland mine was approved for development by Queensland’s Coordinator General in 2014, but to get to this decision today it has taken seven long years of pointless lawfare – at great cost to the taxpayer, the company, and to all the employees who lost their jobs,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“This project had gone through all of the state regulatory channels and consultation processes, had been approved by the Coordinator General and was supported by the local community, but has been in limbo because of a small group of activists prepared to use any legal means to stop this project from proceeding.
“The QRC congratulates New Hope on its perseverance, and we look forward to seeing how the project progresses from here.
“Resources projects like this are the reason the Queensland economy and our job market have remained so strong during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
