{"id":322151,"date":"2022-08-02T13:28:40","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T03:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=322151"},"modified":"2022-08-02T13:28:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T03:28:40","slug":"mayor-calls-for-acland-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/08\/02\/mayor-calls-for-acland-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Calls For Acland Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Paul<\/a>
Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 2, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio has written to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Resources Minister Scott Stewart to urge the State Government to make a decision on the future of the New Acland coal mine.<\/p>\n

Mayor Antonio said Council was watching the ongoing approvals process for a mining lease and associated water licences with great interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Council has no role in the approval for an expansion of mining at the New Acland site, it is time to end the uncertainty over its future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Queensland Government has the authority to declare New Acland Stage 3 a prescribed project in line with all relevant approvals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is Council\u2019s hope that a decision can be announced soon. This will end more than a decade of court battles and delays in approvals that have had a negative effect on the mine\u2019s long-term operations – with several hundred redundancies at the mine in November 2021 – not to mention Oakey township and its surrounding communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the mine expansion is approved, Council firmly expects that New Hope will quickly revive operations at the site with many more jobs created as a result.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will provide a major lift in confidence and business activity in Oakey and the wider community across many supporting industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know New Hope\u2019s operations will boost our gross regional product and the State\u2019s economic performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Hope has previously stated they will not use fly-in, fly-out workers, with a preference for workers living in our community, along with a strong commitment to using local suppliers and contractors.”<\/p>\n

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