Independant Planning Commission’s (IPC) public engagement in late 2020 recieved 1550 unique written submissions, with 60% of those opposing the Dendrobium Mine Extension.

Ultimately, the IPC sided with the concerns of the community, and rejected the proposed expansion.

As an excerpt from the Executive Summary (p 4) explains:

“Significant concerns were raised during consultations undertaken by the Department [of Planning, Industry and the Environment] and Commission in relation to several key issues: mine design, subsidence, ground and surface water impacts, biodiversity and upland swamps, Aboriginal cultural heritage, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the ‘NorBE test’ and bushfire risk…

However, after careful examination of all the evidence and weighing all relevant considerations, the Commission has found that the longwall mine design out forward by South32 does not achieve a balance between maximising the recovery of a coal resourse of State significance and managing, minimising or mitigating the impacts on the water resources and biodiversity and the other environmental values of the Metropolitan Special Area,

For the reasons outlines in this Statement of Reasons, the Commission is of the view that the impacts of the Project outweigh the benefits from an approval, such that the Project should be refused. The Commission concluded that the level of risk posed by the Project has not been properly quantified and based on the potential for long-term and irreversible impacts — particularly on the integrity of a vital drinking water source for the Macarthur and Illawarra regions, the Wollondilly Shire and Metropolitan Sydney — it is not in the public interest.”

Read the IPC’s Statement of Reasons for Decision