The Land Court today handed down conditional approval for the project which has previously gone to the High Court and back in legal proceedings that started in 2015 while the overall fight for approval started back in 2007.

The conditions must now go to the State Government’s Co-ordinator General to amend the mine’s environmental authority, but the court has also put a time limit on the decision. If the EAs are not amended by May 31 next year, the court has recommended that the application to amend be scrapped.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart was giving little away about how the Government will approach the approval.

“We’ve always said we will let the legal process finish before any decision was made,” he said

“As a Government, we will now thoroughly consider the recommendation from the Land Court of Queensland.”

The court was critical of New Hope’s initial reaction to community concerns over dust and noise which it described as “lacklustre” and it said the company “may never recover its social licence in the Acland community”.

“But (the) Oakey Coal Action Alliance’s continued distrust and scepticism cannot be a reason to recommend against the grant,” Land Court Member Peta Stilgoe said in her judgement.

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“I am satisfied the environmental approval can effectively deal with the potential impacts of noise and dust.”

New Hope, though, has yet to say whether it will accept the conditions.

It issued a short statement today saying that it would continue to work with the State Government to progress approvals and to secure them as soon as possible.

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If it goes ahead with the project, it will be another major blow to the environmental movement which also failed to stop the Adani coal mine.

In her judgement Member Stilgoe said that apart from the issues of past performance relating to noise and dust,”no good reason has been shown for the refusal of the grant”.

“If New Hope had taken no action to address noise and air quality concerns, I would have no hesitation in recommending against the grant,” she said.

“If, as Oakey Coal Action Alliance contends, New Hope had continued to minimise residents’ concerns and argue against better analysis and protection, I would have no hesitation in recommending against the grant.

“However, in my view, New Hope has more than made up for its initial lacklustre response by spending significant time and money to implement a sophisticated real-time responsive TARP (trigger action response plan).”

Environmental Defenders Office managing lawyer Sean Ryan said it had been a very important hearing for the community.

“Our client is understandably disappointed that the project was not refused outright, given the importance of the agricultural land in the region and the community’s efforts to protect it for over a decade,” Ryan said.

“While the mining leases were recommended to be granted once the environmental approval is resolved, the Department of Environment and Science and the Land Court were both persuaded that stronger conditions on the environmental approval were appropriate.

“These stronger conditions will require review by the Coordinator General.  The Land Court was clear that if the conditions are not changed to account for its reasons then the project should not be granted environmental approval.”

“We are consulting with our client around further legal options that may be available to them in their efforts to protect their community and prime agricultural land from mining.”

Oakey Coal Action Alliance secretary Paul King said that the Land Court judgement confirmed that New Hope coal had caused major impacts to neighbouring residents from noise and dust over many years.

“Darling Downs farmers are now preparing for a bigger battle over the groundwater impacts of the project which were not able to be considered in the case,” he said.

He urged the Queensland government to reject the company’s groundwater licence, based on the severe impacts it would have on farm bores and the environment. 

“The Land Court judgement today confirmed that the local community has been put through hell by New Hope coal through excessive noise and dust from the mine ruining their lives,” he said.

“This should be enough for the Queensland Government to call it a day, and prevent this dangerous, unwanted project from re-opening.

“It’s also vital that Water Minister Glenn Butcher now makes the right call and rejects New Acland’s application for a groundwater licence for the mine expansion.”  

During the hearings, economist Jacob Fahrer said the stage three expansion would add more than $3 billion to the state’s real output and 90 per cent of that would occur in the region.