Wallarah 2 longwall coalmine

Hours before polling booths opened for the state elections, the NSW Land and Environment Court announced late on March 22 that it was dismissing an appeal by community group Australian Coal Alliance (ACA) against the re-elected Coalition government’s approval of the controversial Wallarah 2 coalmine on the Central Coast.

Residents from New South Wales’ Central Coast gathered in the Sydney Domain on November 12 to mark the start of a 4-day Land and Environment Court hearing into the future of the proposed Wallarah 2 coalmine.

Central coast residents rallied against the proposed Wallarah 2 coalmine in New South Wales on October 31. Protesters raised concerns over environmental dangers and risks to local drinking water from the mine.

For more than 20 years, locals on the NSW Central Coast have been fighting a proposed coalmine in the Dooralong and Yarramalong valleys near Wyong.

The area is an important part of the drinking water catchment for more than 300,000 people, and the proposed Wallarah 2 longwall coalmine threatens to take millions of litres of water each year out of the catchment and pollute local waterways.