NSW Planning Minister called to ban Boral's Minnamurra mine

Long-time campaigners against the mine, Friends of Minnamurra River (FOMR), say an assessment report by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) was grossly inaccurate - yet the Dunmore expansion was approved last November.

"The DPIE has been very misleading in their assessment of that project and the [Planning Minister] needs to have a really close look at it, and I would say there are parts of that report that have been falsified," said Graham Pike of FOMR.

Mr Pike said information relating to threatened species of trees and wildlife in the DPIE reports were "misleadling, containing inadequacies and obscured information".

Read more: Hundreds protest Boral's plans for a sand mine at Minnamurra

A Boral spokeswoman denied any wrongdoing on their part and "remained confident" their submissions have all been accurate.

"The scientific and technical reports that form part of the planning approvals process were prepared by highly qualified independent experts and were undertaken in strict accordance with NSW Government's guidelines," she said.

"We remain confident that these reports accurately reflect the environmental impacts proposed for this project, and reject any suggestion that we submitted false or misleading documentation as part of the approval process."

The spokeswoman said they had met with the FOMR recently to discuss concerns and had invited them to undertake their own vegetation survey on the site.

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On Monday the FOMR were in Kiama to discuss their concerns with mayors from Kiama and Shellharbour (who both oppose the project), Member for Shellharbour Anna Watson and Labor's Planning spokesman Adam Searle.

Ms Watson vowed to "get to the bottom of the truth".

"To fix it, we need understand exactly what's happened, if there's been any breaches of the legislation, any breaches in any of the documentation," she said. "I think the community has been pretty clear in their objections to sand mining in Minamurra and the greater Illawarra."

The group will then meet with the Planning Minister Rob Stokes on Thursday, as they believe he has the power to stop the project from going ahead.

In 2020, the DPIE recommended the Dunmore expansion be approved, saying its environmental effects were acceptable. However, the department had received objections from local councils and more than 50 members of the public. In 2019, almost 5000 people signed a petition objecting to the expansion, and several hundred people attended a protest against it.

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