SUBMISSION OF...Government lists first before approving another mining permit and reducing/removing the impact on people of mining on the town of Stratford, Craven & surrounding areas

Amanda Albury Submission to PAC 19th

February 2014 – Gloucester Soldiers Club

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Planning Assessment Commission

Public Hearing

Gloucester Soldiers Club

Wednesday 19th

February 2014

SUBMISSION OF: Amanda Albury 151 Forest Glenn Road Limeburners Creek NSW 2324

TO: PAC Commission:- Neil Shepherd, Joe Woodward and Donna Campbell,

Question: When are the animal Species to be protected on the Government EPBC List of State and

Federal Government?

(Photo 1.) Stratford coals individually and together with other mining companies are removing large areas

of the natural landscape of The Bucketts Way a designated NSW Tourist Drive 2 in the Gloucester-Stroud

Valley.

ICAG Inc. object to the Planning Dept. approving Stratford Coal Extension and the obvious display of

supporter numbers were done with a form letter and that number is one of the deciding factors for Planning

to approve the mines.

ICAG Inc. object to the paid consultants of Yancoal/Stratford Coal who have written their biased reports

they have been paid to write for Stratford Coal, just as they have done for Duralie Coal and sign the death

warrant of each wildlife species in the mining impact zones. It seems with computer research that both

David Goldney and Arthur White are involved in 4 different companies within documentation surrounding

Stratford Coal mines proposed expansion there maybe more. How many environmental companies do

they have? I request PAC reject this approval outright on the merits of protecting wildlife on

Government lists first before approving another mining permit and reducing/removing the impact on

people of mining on the town of Stratford, Craven & surrounding areas.

(Photo 2 and photo 3)

Dust & Noise are impacting people. Stratford Coal is already impacting people along the buckets way in

Stratford Township and surrounding areas by traffic/machinery movement/dust. They therefore should

NOT be subject to any mine seeking to operate 24 hours a day or at all. No mine proposal should come to

within 1000m or less to Stratford Township and 1km from an open pit. I live 1.5 km from The Bucketts

Way and we hear traffic and trucks, bikes, which is VERY different to an open coal mine and all the noise

they will be producing and will continue to disturb the people of Stratford literally in every way.

These 2 Photos are of dirty water in Stratford residents tanks, water strainer eaten away by extremely

smelly water that is obviously corrosive. Black water has been evident in residents’ filtered water for a very

long time which I have seen. Other people have paid consultants to have their water tested and the results

are alarming. Lead 600 times higher than the recommended statistic. Why should people being impacted

by Stratford coal pay themselves for test results. It’s about time that the mine is made to prove they are

NOT contaminating drinking water. As it is VERY obvious they are. To give approval for 3 more mines

impacting Stratford Township and surrounding areas, is to approve with knowledge despite the mining



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documentation that people are already affected by Stratford Coal and should PAC approve the mines will

only accelerate what is already happening.

I believe Stratford Coal should provide sealed water tanks for each house replumbed into their houses at

Stratford Coal’s expense. Where the property owner has their tank filled by a reputable water carter of their

choice to fill up their tank when required and this is also paid for by Stratford Coal.

(Photos 4 and 5 dust off car on tissue and dust on car bonnet).

The people I have met in Stratford Coal are already impacting people’s health through dust (on/in houses in

tank water, rusting stainless steel roofs, equipment.

Photo 6 less just over 12 months old these new roofs screws were rusting and the roof sheets are

pitting).

Photo 7 cracks in Stratford Township house attributed to occurring when Stratford Coal mine started

moving closer to Stratford Township house in middle of town closest to mine. Property owners has been

treated MOST dreadfully from the mine causing health problems for all family, past fish loss from blast

causing orange dust to settle over the town and choked his dam and killed his perch. EPA came out

amongst other departments and NO one held any company accountable or compensated property owner or

take over the dreadful task of clean-up and burial of dead aquatic fish/wildlife. Blasting has impacted

houses from Craven and Stratford Township where the residents attribute this as NOT being the drought.

Structural damage to driveways, paths, piers/joists & Stratford Cemetery from blasting in particular.

Noise in particular from drilling/machinery, blasting and train movement’s affects people in Stratford and

surrounding areas. Even 12 Mile Creek & us at Limeburners Creek to Stratford are affected by employee

vehicles/mining equipment traveling up and down The Bucketts Way.

Photos of PDF Stratford Extension Project External Night time noise - No amount of desk top studies,

dust/noise will EVER produce real-time fact. Particularly when the mining company/consultants are the

ones doing the testing. It is a very UGLY system that is being forced upon us. E.g. ICAG Inc. Vs Planning

& Gloucester/Duralie Coal, the Government (Planning Dept. amongst others), will do everything they can to

gain the upper-hand as quickly as possible to assist the mining company, even if that means advertising a

submission period, when the documentation for the general public has not been done train dust and train

noise reports being written about the impacts on people in Wards River being impacted. Planning

begrudgingly pulled the first submission period on the last day, then the following month or so they released

the 2nd

submission period and the documentation that Judge Preston had stipulated must be done, was NOT

done. The property owners were NOT consulted in real time of the affects of noise and dust impacting

them, they used desk top studies throwing handfuls of dust into a fan? All the while their results and

impacts come out as minor impacts or unlikely impacts to residents. Yet it was the PAC that approved the

train extensions broken up in a, b and c and changed other wording of Judge Prestons conditions.

Mining machinery is coming up the valley without Police Escort, and mining staff pointing out the window,

with no signage of big vehicle ahead. I was pushed off the road just before Christmas as an excavator on a

flat top truck which was hanging over South bound lane (hanging over my lane coming to a narrow 2 lane

bridge). I had no where to go & stopped just in time as he came across the bridge at Limeburners Creek

without the truck slowing down, leaving me screaming hanging onto steering wheel. Un-Escorted by Police

Mining equipment coming into this valley is an accident or death waiting to happen for some person driving



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on the road minding their own business. OR mining cranes/equipment drives at 20km along a public road,

which could cause an accident.

(Photo of Stratford Cemetery):- Photo 8, 9 and 9b Residents attribute the grave borders and

headstones that cracked when blasting commenced closer to Stratford Township. This was very

hurtful to the people whose family members’ burial plots were being damaged. So much so that people

have removed the concrete and gone for a low to the ground headstone. This was done at people’s own

expense. They advised me that the mine advised them that it was “the drought” or “old concrete/building

skills”, yet people in town said the cracking only occurred when the mine moved closer to Stratford

Township.

(Photo 10) - Our precious wildlife. How many are being injured to a painful death or killed outright?

The destruction of the wildlife and their habitat injured to a painful death or killed outright across the

wildlife spectrum living in this bushland of Duralie Coal to Stratford Coal is being wiped out for those that

can’t jump or fly large distances. The Gloucester Coal now Yancoal project MUST be accepted as one

massive development and is NOT in the best interest or merits based for the majority of people that live in

the Gloucester-Stroud valley and are being impacted by this massive mine structure broken up into many,

many company names, to deflect their true intentions. YET they do have the full Duralie Coal to Stratford

Coal path in their documentation.

I am very tired of the falseness of documentation from the mining company/consultants that the land is

cleared pasture. Duralie also does this and Stratford coal is no different. Written by the mines and

Government Departments paid employees to write a report that in all the destruction on the natural

environment these mining companies are doing, comes down to minimal impact, unlikely impact,

insignificant impact.

The truth based on reality is what needs to be written up in the consultant’s documentation. What are they

actually doing to the wildlife that is obviously living in this bushland already? Wildlife cannot be offset to

another area of bush because the bushland they are living in happily has been handed over for complete

annihilation, or in Stratford Coal’s case has previously off set land in Duralie coal land. Offsetting is ugly

terminology made up by paid mining consultants and actually means death to all wildlife with limited ability

to fly great distances or jump away.

Photos 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

The only offset area is BEST to leave the bushland/wildlife in tact and turn that into the wildlife area

in perpetuity. The animals that are on the government lists of EPBC threatened, vulnerable, endangered

lists are being handed over, bit by bit, mining approval after mining approval until the animals on the lists

and their habitats have all been destroyed by these government departments of many by granting mining in

these bushland areas in the first place. This bushland area of Stratford Coal is anything but saplings or full

cleared land. Stratford Coal is already removing parts of mountains and valley that are fully vegetated with

mature trees and sustain the wildlife in those areas.

Despite the wildlife surveys I believe are very controversial in their outcomes as it’s the mining company

that is paying the consultants David Goldney and Arthur White amongst others to write the report that they

need for the mining company and are therefore ‘white-washing’ the factual truth that the wildlife in the

proposed Stratford Coal mine extension areas including their present location are doomed.



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I am also very alarmed that these 2 men (David Goldney and Arthur White) Ecobiological & Australian

Museum Business Services and 2 others (found in documentation relating to Stratford Coal’s current

modification) in the documentation re: Stratford Coals proposed extension have 4 companies (they may

have more). So my question is how many companies do these men operate and why? These men have

signed the death warrant of the wildlife being impacted by Duralie Coal and have done the same for

Stratford Coal. These reports/documentation produced for an on behalf of the mine should be thrown out

and ONLY independent consultants should be engaged for water, impacts to people & health impacts from

dust, blasting, noise & their animals not forgetting our wildlife/habitat.

PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED DREADFUL HEALTH PROBLEMS – Real People, Real impacts from

Stratford & Duralie Coal mines.

Stratford Coal by the very nature of their business is digging up other peoples land in a portion capacity

(called lease), or has purchased properties outright and digging them all up in time.

Stratford like Duralie Coal pay people to be silent and not speak of the noise, dust, blasting impacts that

they may be suffering the mine calls compensation. I have sadly met people impacted by Stratford Coal and

Duralie Coal that have been falsely told that the mine will not come anywhere near their property, that they

won’t hear them or see them. YET reality for these people is that the boutique mines of Duralie Coal in and

Stratford Coal continue to request modifications regularly. Here we are again as Stratford Coal seeks to

expand into 3 new areas.

Photos 21 and 22 Craven Village Dust on house and cracked path, veranda. Property owner was told

by mine that it was the drought or bad concreting workmanship.

Intimidation & harassment – Gloucester Coal/Yancoal’s tricks of the trade!

Property owners are in fear and rightly so. They are either holding out from allowing the mine to access

their property or to purchase.

People are in fear of being intimidated, ridiculed by pro mining people and/or company employees. An

older couple in a town in Great Lakes Shire walking along minding their business was verbally abused for

their assistance to ICAG Inc. And a lady taking her children to School was also verbally abused by the

same male pro mining person who does work for the coal mine and is on the CCC of the coal mine. When

this information came to my attention, I phoned and requested that he and I meet in person to discuss his

abusive tactics, like all good bullies they don’t want to be held accountable. He declined to meet me.

The pro mining people in this valley I have witness in public meetings or at information road/side rallies as

ICAG Inc. The propaganda and at which length people will go to speak rot and be disrespectful to the

people being impacted by the mining companies is most sad and shows these peoples lack of empathy and

concern for others in their town/village and/or valley.

Some people live as tenants in mine owned properties and most will not speak out even though they have a

valid story of impact to tell, for fear of if they do, they will be evicted. Judge Preston in the land and



5

environment court stated that the people chose to live in the houses close to the mine and the dust produced

in the valley was from the unsealed roads.

Some people either work for the mine though off record are greatly grieved at what they are seeing.

Some people do business with the mine in various capacities and therefore feel very much over a barrel in

being unable to speak out of the impacts they are suffering at the hands of Yancoal.

I have witnessed property owners being phoned by the mine on their mobile sending them SMS message

after message 3 messages in less than 5 minutes, until this person could not take it anymore and gave the

mine what they wanted to sign the purchase document of their property and sell a portion of their property

to the mine.

Other people not understanding that if they let the mine onto their property to have a look around and

signing an access agreement that is not altered and modified by the property owner, it is both open ended

and I believe deceitful. These property owners find that suddenly their property is being accessed by mining

equipment/drills and was not what they had intended or expected.

The phone calls I have received over the years from people sobbing on the phone to me saying they either

let the mine people on to look around and now they are drilling OR from other property owners I had to

Amanda, I just had to give them access, because if I didn’t I would be taken to goal.

Blasting from Stratford causing orange dust cloud landed on property dam and by morning this had settled

and suffocated everything in that dam. Authorities were called the mine was called the EPA etc and this

property owner had NO help, compensation OR apology and was left to get out and then burry all the fish

and wildlife dead in that dam.

Cracking in homes from Stratford Township, Craven Village to South of Wards River. People attribute that

it was not until these mines moved in their houses started to crack, paths leading to front door, drive-ways

and verandas, houses that were disengaging themselves from the barer/joists and piers. Mining staff would

come out and either state “it was poor building or it was the drought”.

When people’ health or their animals deteriated around the Stratford Coal impact zone through to craven,

the mine staff were quick to dismiss their claims. It was not until their reports went into Judge Preston and

some were introduced to the Author and written up in Sharyn Munros book, that the mine proceeded to seek

to purchase some of these properties.

The mine being approached to soundproof homes or provide, air conditioners due to dust impacts or provide

water diverters for tanks has been slow to roll out to the people affected by their industry. I have been

advised by property owners being affected by Duralie Coal and Stratford Coal that they will NOT sign a non

disclosure clause. When I took this up with Mike Smith years and years back, the gist was (it is their choice

to sign it or not). I said yes and if they don’t sign it they don’t get the devices. Once again this shows how

manipulative the coal mines in this valley are.

If the mines have nothing to hide then why sign people up to silence. The mine says that they are doing this

to protect the property owner. That is disputed. The mine uses clauses such as these as a form of



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intimidation. Some people sadly take this in the literal sense where they stop talking to their neighbours,

friends and this has also happened to me where people take this ‘gag clause’ and stop talking all together.

If the Duralie and Stratford Coal mines had nothing to hide then they would not need to pay people living in

the valley (for paid silence) to not complain about what they see or hear or even feel.

The mines should be proud about what they are doing to the Gloucester-Stroud Valley and be happy to see

people like myself and others taking memory photos of what they are doing. Yet!

I myself have been harassed by mining contractors standing on public shoulders on the edge of public roads

both in the Great Lakes Shire area and Gloucester Shire Area. I was surrounded by 3 men standing much

taller than myself with arms folded, they had walked out of their drilling area to try to stop me

photographing their proceedings. They took down my number plate and phoned the mine. While I stood

and asked them to say hello to the mine for me, and stood my ground and continued taking photos it made

me very cross at the level of intimidation the mining contractors are willing to go. Pages road with others in

the car with me, we were being tailed on a public road watching the drilling and was being asked to leave a

public road again we stood our ground, took photos looked at maps of Stratford Coal mine moving north

and left of our choosing.

I have received over the years harassment phone calls by male voices and I know I am not alone here either.

My car spot lights parked in Stroud have been tampered with on 3 separate occasions. I have been followed

into the Council office at Stroud and monitored that by the 2nd

and third time coming through the Council

door had the man had Council attention. I and others have been filmed by a security guard on a private

property from Duralie Coal, where he said to me when I challenged him on that, he was looking through

binoculars. I said to him through your belly button, you were steadying the camera and he was left very

embarrassed.

One morning I had Police walking down my driveway, I immediately thought that I was to be told that my

husband Stephen had been involved in a fatal car accident. My heart stabbed I gasped and went running out

saying whats happened to Stephen, what happened to Stephen where the Police responded that Stephen was

alright. Head spinning. I gasped then what are you doing here. The Police said that Mike Smith of

Gloucester Coal wanted me to come around and talk to you. I advised the Police that they had been

wrongly informed and I had not trespassed on mining land and I had NOT tampered with mining equipment

and that on the record I am disgusted that our NSW Police are being used to intimidate and harass people on

behalf of the mine where they have been given wrongful information. That over that weekend we were

there with the property owner and looking for a lost calf while taking the very last photos and film and water

samples on that property before being owned and destroyed by Duralie Coal. I have also been discussed

and wrong conclusions made by those people on the CCC about the above, and written up in the minutes

(not my name). I am still waiting for the Chairperson to set this straight in the minutes and in the minds of

some of the very opinionated and wrongful conclusions drawn by those on the Duralie Coal CCC and

thereby passing out wrongful information out to the community and uploading these minutes to the CCC

website.

Property owners are isolated and there are those that have been surrounded by the mining companies and

have either sold out or are holding on and will do almost anything to avoid the mines contacts. By taking

There are some people that have had to take the most drastic actions to keep mining people off their

property. It seems that when the company is circling around a property owner and they know they are



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home, they help themselves uninvited to come and talk to them. No Trespassing signs are constantly being

taken down or vandelled including:-

Protest signs taken down by people in support of Duralie or Stratford Coal. Property owners have suffered

people trespassing on their property, by a sighted mining vehicle where the man helped himself to 20 meters

driving inside the property and took the sign off the post and put the sign in the truck. The house was set

way back from the post and no details of vehicle could be gathered.

There are people that live in the valley that is scared of speaking out for the very real fear of being rebuked

by pro mining people and/or the mining company staff. I have actually witnessed Intimidation &

harassment from mining employees to property owners in various forms - seeking access or to purchase

part/full property. The subcontractors, pro mining councilors and pro mining people that feel the need to

either slander, or verbally harass people that oppose mining in the Gloucester-Stroud valley.

Water sample tests of private tank water or creek water, which is done by private citizens who are

impacted by Duralie Coal and Stratford Coal paid for independently are disputed by the mining

company or Government Departments, as being done incorrectly. Therefore is NO independent

watch-dog for people to take this information/test results and be supported and have the mining

company investigated.

Contaminated water in tanks despite Damian Gore’s media coverage everywhere, yet on the phone to

me and across emails while he was still speaking to me, advising me that he has the samples of coal dust

that people sent him from Duralie Coal and Stratford coal impacts in his office looking at him every day and

he does not have the finances to test them.

The mining talk of Stratford and Duralie Coal:

Stratford Coal & Duralie Coal promoted themselves in the Gloucester-Stroud Valley as “boutique mines”

and speak untruths and white-washed what their true motives were to be. Both Duralie and Stratford Coal

told people in towns/villages in this valley and else where as far as Taree mens probus club to push their

good will mine bus tour. Sadly people I have met over these years were told “the mine would be here for a

short time OR you won’t even know we are here OR we are never coming near your property. We looked at

a property in Johnsons Creek Road we were told in 2004 by a Realestate Agent (not in this valley) that the

mine was closing soon. I have met people down river believed the mine that it was just extra salt from

Stratford or Duralie Coal and would not be any problem to the water of the rivers to Taree and to Karuah.

The oyster farmers were told that the ‘extra mine salt’ would be of benefit to counteract the fresh water

coming down river.

The Government and mining company are quick to cover their impact on creeks as “it’s naturally

occurring”, or “it’s the cows, the chicken farms, the turkey farms, fertilizers”etc. or a natural rainfall event

or naturally occurring tannin. The EPA, DECCWA, DPI, Office of Water, Marine Park Nelson Bay,

Compliance of Planning. They all have one thing in common, they are ALL employed by Government

Departments they are in effect signed to silence. Fear of losing their job is one of the first things that people

have said to me. To former employees of now Yancoal they are fearful of being ridiculed for speaking out

against the non-compliance with water that should be captured into containers and then taken back to the

dirty water holding dam are discharged straight out into local creeks turning them orange or black.



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Former employees of Gloucester Coal now Yancoal are also in effect a paid silence and we see this each

time that a modification comes out for Duralie or Stratford that the employees are asked to sign what seems

to me over all these years a form letter/proforma letter, though for all the years I have requested David Kitto

and Co of the Planning Dept. They have never made a copy of these letters available on the website. Yet

they upload letters of objection unless stipulated not to do so.

In Stratford Coals documentation they have each Government Department endorse the project. For any that

have set down conditions. These conditions will be changed or removed in modifications in time. Even

Conditions set down by the Land & Environment Court which last condition went down on 7th

February

2012 and we found ourselves in a submission period in March 2012, which we had removed and then it

came back in May 2012 through PAC and was approved.

LIST OF SYMPTOMS PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING IN THE VALLEY I HAVE MET:-

Stratford Coal and Duralie Coal impact people through their train movements (noise, dust), lighting,

drilling (noise), truck movements/reversing beeper, horn blowing and impacts from blasting cracking

their homes, scaring their animals to run into or jump over boundary fencing and run through

Stratford township. Black dust outside their house and inside, water sulphur smell and foul taste,

rusting out stainless strainer on tank, drinking black water through their filter (Stratford Township),

health impacts:- nose bleeds, skin rashes, asthma, eye irritations, nose/throat irritations. Heart

attacks, depression, sleep deprived and children on constant migraine medication. Feeling very

isolated, very alone, not sure what to do. Reporting noise, blasting to the Stratford Coal mine and/or

Duralie Coal and being ‘fobbed off’. The only time the mine showed themselves to recognize they are

infact causing noise impacts to people trying to sleep was to give a resident in Wards River a box of

ear plugs to share around. Houses in Stratford and Craven the people contacting Stratford Coal

would be ‘fobbed off’. These people were advised that their homes were cracking from poor

workmanship/building or it was the drought. This also correlates with people being impacted by

Duralie Coal.

The mines independently are interfering with people and destroying large tracks of bushland, rural land.

Together the cumulative impact is greater. That should be obvious to EVERYONE.

The impacts on our wildlife being injured ultimately killed in numbers in the millions, billions or more are

going undocumented. Any animal, bird, reptile, insect etc, unable to fly away great distances or jump away

or run quickly away from falling trees and bulldozers would be injured to a painful death or die outright!

The mining discharge into creeks & rivers that are also being diverted, drained and dug up continues to

happen todate in this valley by Government approvals. Yet there is enough evidence in NSW of mining

impacts causing a permanent destruction on the environment. When there is so much documentation and

scientific documentation that destruction of wildlife & habitat and natural watersources cannot be replaced,

mitigated, repatriated. (SEE PHOTOS OF ORANGE OXIDE AND ALSO BLACK WATER IN OUR

LOCAL CREEKS).

I don’t see the Planning Dept. or other Government Departments doing the right thing for the environment,

wildlife, people, and animals.



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Both the Planning Dept and mining companies request the general public to trust them. Yet it is the actions

of both Planning and the mine amongst other Gov. Department all working together to give the mining

company all they are seeking. It is just a matter of when.

Stratford & Duralie Coal mines were authorized to proceed with conditions which were lobbied hard to get

these put against these mines though in the end the local community fought to protect the Karuah catchment

headed up by Johnsons Creek Conservation Committee and 2 years in Commission of Inquiries. Both

Stratford & Duralie continue with the Planning Dept help to have these conditions removed or modified.

By end of 2010 the mine was seeking full river discharge into Mammy Johnsons River and the NSW

Planning Dept. had given Gloucester Coal/Duralie coal approval their conditions would be rescinded.

ICAG Inc. with JCCC assistance, EDO legal team and experts in their field went to the Land &

Environment Court and in short got conditions back and stopped full river discharge, though judge gave the

mine the creeks. Stroud Road and Stroud Township drinking water.

Intimidation & harassment – Gloucester Coal/Yancoal’s tricks of the trade!

Property owners are in fear and rightly so. They are either holding out from allowing the mine to access

their property or to purchase.

People are in fear of being intimidated, ridiculed by pro mining people and/or company employees.

An older couple in a town in Great Lakes Shire walking along minding their business was verbally

abused for their assistance to ICAG Inc. And a lady taking her children to School was also verbally

abused by the same male pro mining person who does work for the coal mine and is on the CCC of

the coal mine. When this information came to my attention, I phoned and requested that he and I

meet in person to discuss his abusive tactics, like all good bullies they don’t want to be held

accountable. He declined to meet me.

The pro mining people in this valley I have witness in public meetings or at information road/side rallies as

ICAG Inc. The propaganda and at which length people will go to speak rot and be disrespectful to the

people being impacted by the mining companies is most sad and shows these peoples lack of empathy and

concern for others in their town/village and/or valley.

Some people live as tenants in mine owned properties and most will not speak out even though they have a

valid story of impact to tell, for fear of if they do, they will be evicted. Judge Preston in the land and

environment court stated that the people chose to live in the houses close to the mine and the dust

produced in the valley was from the unsealed roads.

Some people either works for the mine though off record are greatly grieved at what they are seeing.

Some people do business with the mine in various capacities and therefore feel very much over a

barrel in being unable to speak out of the impacts they are suffering at the hands of Wacoal.

I have witnessed property owners being phoned by the mine on their mobile sending them SMS message

after message 3 messages in less than 5 minutes, until this person could not take it anymore and gave the



10

mine what they wanted to sign the purchase document of their property and sell a portion of their property

to the mine.

Other people not understanding that if they let the mine onto their property to have a look around and

signing an access agreement that is not altered and modified by the property owner, it is both open ended

and I believe deceitful. These property owners find that suddenly their property is being accessed by mining

equipment/drills and was not what they had intended or expected.

The phone calls I have received over the years from people sobbing on the phone to me saying they either

let the mine people on to look around and now they are drilling OR from other property owners I had to

Amanda, I just had to give them access, because if I didn’t I would be taken to goal.

Blasting from Stratford causing orange dust cloud landed on property dam and by morning this had settled

and suffocated everything in that dam. Authorities were called the mine was called the EPA etc and this

property owner had NO help, compensation OR apology and was left to get out and then burry all the fish

and wildlife dead in that dam.

PROPERTY DAMAGE:-

Cracking in homes from Stratford Township, Craven Village to South of Wards River. People attribute that

it was not until these mines moved in their houses started to crack, paths leading to front door, drive-ways

and verandas, houses that were disengaging themselves from the barers/joists and piers. Mining staff would

come out and either state “it was poor building or it was the drought”.

PEOPLE AND ANIMALS HEALTH DETERIATING:-

When people’ health or their animals deteriated around the Stratford Coal impact zone through to craven,

the mine staff were quick to dismiss their claims. It was not until their reports went into Judge Preston and

some were introduced to the Author and written up in Sharyn Munros book, that the mine proceeded to seek

to purchase some of these properties.

THE MINE PUTS PEOPLE OVER THEIR ‘MINING BARREL’:-

The mine being approached to soundproof homes or provide, air conditioners due to dust impacts or provide

water diverters for tanks has been slow to roll out to the people affected by their industry. I have been

advised by property owners being affected by Duralie Coal and Stratford Coal that they will NOT sign a non

disclosure clause. When I took this up with Mike Smith years and years back, the gist was (it is their choice

to sign it or not). I said yes and if they don’t sign it they don’t get the devices. Once again this shows how

manipulative the coal mines in this valley are.

If the mines have nothing to hide then why sign people up to silence. The mine says that they are doing this

to protect the property owner. That is disputed. The mine uses clauses such as these as a form of

intimidation. Some people sadly take this in the literal sense where they stop talking to their neighbours,

friends or me.

If the Duralie and Stratford Coal mines had nothing to hide then they would not need to pay people living in

the valley (for paid silence) to not complain about what they see or hear or even feel.



11

The mines should be proud about what they are doing to the Gloucester-Stroud Valley and be happy to see

people like myself and others taking memory photos of what they are doing. Yet!

I myself have been harassed by mining contractors standing on public shoulders on the edge of public roads

both in the Great Lakes Shire area and Gloucester Shire Area. I was surrounded by 3 men standing much

taller than myself with arms folded; they had walked out of their drilling area to try to stop me

photographing their proceedings. They took down my number plate and phoned the mine. While I stood

and asked them to say hello to the mine for me, and stood my ground and continued taking photos it made

me very cross at the level of intimidation the mining contractors are willing to go. Pages road with others in

the car with me, we were being tailed on a public road watching the drilling and was being asked to leave a

public road again we stood our ground, took photos looked at maps of Stratford Coal mine moving north

and left of our choosing.

HARRASSMENT & INTIMIDATION BY PRO-MINING PEOPLE AND GLOUCESTER COAL:-

I have received over the years harassment phone calls by male voices and I know I am not alone here either.

My car spot lights parked in Stroud have been tampered with on 3 separate occasions. I have been followed

into the Council office at Stroud and monitored that by the 2nd

and third time coming through the council

door had Council attention. I and others have been filmed by a security guard on a private property where

he said to me when I challenged him on that, he was looking through binoculars. I said to him through your

belly button where you were steadying the camera and he was left very embarrassed.

One morning I had Police walking down my driveway, I immediately thought that I was to be told that my

husband Stephen had been involved in a fatal car accident. My heart stabbed I gasped and went running out

saying whats happened to Stephen, what happened to Stephen where the Police responded that Stephen was

alright. Head spinning. I gasped then what are you doing here. The Police said that Mike Smith of

Gloucester Coal wanted me to come around and talk to you. I advised the Police that they had been

wrongly informed and I had not trespassed on mining land and I had NOT tampered with mining equipment

and that on the record I am disgusted that our NSW Police are being used to intimidate and harass people on

behalf of the mine where they have been given wrongful information. That over that weekend we were

there with the property owner and looking for a lost calf while taking the very last photos and film and water

samples on that property before being owned and destroyed by Duralie Coal. I have also been discussed

and wrong conclusions made by those people on the CCC about the above, and written up in the minutes

(not my name). I am still waiting for the Chairperson to set this straight in the minutes and in the minds of

some of the very opinionated and wrongful conclusions and thereby passing out wrongful information out to

the community and uploading these minutes to the CCC website.

Property owners are isolated and there are those that have been surrounded by the mining companies and

have either sold out or are holding on. There are some people that have had to take the most drastic actions

to keep mining people off their property. It seems that when the company is circling around a property

owner and they know they are home, they help themselves uninvited to come and talk to them.

Protest signs taken down by people in support of Duralie or Stratford Coal. Property owners have suffered

people trespassing on their property, by a sighted mining vehicle where the man helped himself to 20 meters

driving inside the property and took the sign off the post and put the sign in the truck. The house was set

way back from the post and no details of vehicle could be gathered.

Amanda Albury 151 Forest Glenn Road Limeburners Creek 2324 PH: 4997-5979

Documents

SUBMISSION OF...Government lists first before approving another mining permit and reducing/removing the impact on people of mining on the town of Stratford, Craven & surrounding areas