It wouldn't be overstating it too much to say the future of Wollongong was being debated before the Independent Planning Commission this week.

At least, it's the future of a certain type of Wollongong - and it happens to be the only type the city has ever known: one founded on coal mining and steelmaking, and relying on these industries for its employment and economic energy.

In the commission this week the pro- and anti-coal forces faced off over the potential expansion of South32's Dendrobium mine, in what could be interpreted as "we need this mine to keep things how they are and how they have been", versus "we need this expansion stopped so we can work on a future that's different to the present".

Read more: Stakes high as heavy hitters address IPC on mine

South32 says if it can't expand Dendrobium it will close, and the Appin mine too, and this will threaten the steelworks and the Port Kembla Coal Terminal which have always depended on Dendrobium product.

BlueScope says a supply of local coal is "critical" - it was one of the main three reasons the steelworks was set up here in the first place (along with a deep port and proximity to Sydney). It says under the current alignment it lacks the facilities to handle getting its coal from Queensland and storing it. BlueScope also says it would need to spend an estimated $200 million upgrading its shipping berths to handle receiving this Queensland coal. BlueScope argues things should continue as they have been.

Environmentalists gave a vision of a future no longer wedded to heavy carbon industry, argued mining shouldn't be allowed to damage the water catchment, disputed claims about BlueScope's reliance on South32 coal, and raised their own catastrophic threat: climate change. Coal was on the way out, so other priorities should rise.

Energy economist Tony Wood said new ways to make steel with hydrogen needed to be adopted quick smart.

One of the more articulate speakers was Gene Cooper, a born and bred coal miner who spoke in favour of the mine's extension.

"I went to the primary school across the road and I had my first beer at the Mt Kembla pub," he said. "Mining's a part of Mt Kembla's identity - it's who we are."

He continued: "The Illawarra thrives because of our coal mines and our steelworks - not in spite of it ... Wollongong would be a very different place without the industry that built the town in the first place - and the change would not be for the better."

While the near-term future of steelmaking and coal exports may not be as fragile as threatened, it certainly would be a different place were coal mining to start being knocked back in the water catchment, and the extraction pipeline start drying up.

It's up to the IPC to decide whether or not that's for the better.