NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said the government must restore the planning minister’s power to approve major projects.

This would mean a return to the notorious Part 3A ministerial powers, which the Coalition abolished when they came to power in NSW.

Mr Galilee was speaking after two major coal projects were rejected by the PAC this week.

Anglo American’s proposed Drayton South open-cut mine in the Hunter Valley was knocked back because it was not in the public interest and it threatened horse studs nearby.

Coalpac’s plan to expand its Invincible colliery and Cullen Valley mine was rejected because it would clear 150 hectares of the Ben Bullen state forest and put high-value stone ‘‘pagoda’’ formations at risk in the Gardens of Stone national park.

Mr Galilee said environment campaigners were ‘‘gaming the process’’ by taking over PAC hearings.

‘‘The processes are taking longer and longer, the outcomes are becoming more and more inconsistent, and the process itself has become a circus where public lobbying and media campaigns are now required to get your position on a project across to either the government or the PAC, whether you’re for or against a project,’’ he said.

Mr Galilee said no planning minister had been found to be corrupt, so concerns about the Part 3A-style powers were ill-founded.

‘‘We have donation limits in NSW now ... so where’s the avenue for corruption?’’ he said.

‘‘All it would do is mean the government of the day and the planning minister of the day would be publicly accountable for the decisions they make.’’

A spokesman for Planning Minister Pru Goward said today’s system took the politics out of planning.

‘‘The Planning Assessment Commission makes decisions independently and at arm’s length of government,’’ he said.

‘‘This ensures decisions are made fairly and independently, with maximum community consultation.’’

‘‘The system works – NSW’s economy is No 1 in the country,’’ he said.