Approvals delay to blame for Russell Vale job losses

Employees, including operators, electricians, fitters and deputies, were told on Tuesday their jobs were gone while 20 to 30 positions would remain in the care and maintenance team. 

‘‘Today we started the process required for consultation to work with the workforce to work out strategies to mitigate as many job losses as possible but we would expect remaining production to slow down over the next two-month period,’’ Wollongong Coal operations manager Rhys Brett said.

‘‘All the workers were told this morning. It was obviously a very difficult discussion to be had and it’s a very, very sad day for us at Wollongong Coal today.’’

Mr Brett would not be drawn on whether the workforce would be re-hired if and when the mine got the green light from the NSW government to continue coal extraction at the mine.

‘‘The organisational changes we are making today are within our existing approval framework,’’ he said.

Wollongong Coal chief executive Milind Oza called a press conference to announce work had been suspended and the mine had been placed into ‘‘care and maintenance’’ mode.

‘‘For the last six years, we are involved in the approval process and creating approval for our expansion and we are still awaiting that approval to this date,’’ Mr Oza said.

But without approval for additional coal extraction – and an investment of $400million with very little to show for it – the company had to make ‘‘very tough choices and decisions’’.

‘‘Six long years we have been involved in this process and we have satisfied all the requirements and so we expect the approval as soon as possible,’’ he said.

‘‘But then again, the last thing to die in life is hope ... and making any promises based on those hopes would be probably pretty hypothetical.’’

When asked if the $400million was money well spent, Mr Oza said: ‘‘The relevance is after putting all that money in, we have very little to show in terms of production and that can only happen when we have the approval. The approvals have not come yet.’’

Mr Oza moved to assure the community that Wollongong Coal was ‘‘committed to this asset and the future employability of the people in this region’’. He said the company would ‘‘continue to work with the government to get the approval’’ needed to return to operational.

The announcement saw the end of coal cutting in the region by the company, after Wollongong Coal announced in August 2014 production at its Wongawilli mine would cease.

  Wollongong Coal advised the NSW government that its Russell Vale Colliery would be placed on ‘‘care and maintenance’’, with the move effective immediately.

 Coal extraction under the mine’s existing project approval has been completed. Wollongong Coal has been seeking a fresh approval for additional coal extraction at the mine.

 The Planning Assessment Commission carried out an independent review of the mine’s Russell Vale Colliery project.

 The commission held public hearings in February 2015 and completed its merit review in April 2015.

 It identified several uncertainties in Wollongong Coal’s assessment of the project’s impacts, particularly in relation to potential impacts on Sydney’s drinking water resources and upland swamps.

 It recommended that an integrated risk assessment be carried out by experts prior to any determination of the application.

 The company is still preparing a detailed response to the commission’s review, and has recently set up a panel of experts to carry out the risk assessment of the uncertainties identified by the commission.

 The commission will then complete its assessment in consultation with key agencies.

Source: Gareth Ward MP, Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast