Wyong Areas Coal Joint Venture has made application to NSW Crown Lands for the sale transfer of Tooheys Rd at Bushells Ridge.
Tooheys Rd is a Crown road which skirts the Wallarah 2 Coal Project, managed by Wyong Coal on behalf of Korean owned company, Kores Australia, and four others in the Wyong Areas Coal Joint Venture (WACJV).
The main site offices for Wyong Coal operations are at 77 Tooheys Rd, which is a dirt road connecting Doyalson Link Rd at Blue Haven to Bushells Ridge Rd on the western side of the M1 Motorway.
The proposed sale of this Crown Land public road was advertised on September 18, stating that if the sale of Tooheys Rd proceeded, it would cease to be a public road upon being transferred to freehold land.
However, Wyong Coal’s Project Manager, Ken Barry, said the status of Tooheys Rd would remain unchanged.
Among the development consent conditions issued by the NSW Government when Wallarah 2 coal project was approved in January 2018, was the stipulation that WACJV “must ensure that Tooheys Rd is kept open during the life of the development and maintained in a good state of repair for access by the general public and emergency services vehicles”.
If ownership of Tooheys Rd is transferred to WACJV, then on completion of mining operations, ownership of Tooheys Rd must then be transferred to Central Coast Council, if it agrees.
In September 2017, a NSW Planning and Environment report stated that the proposed purchase and closure of a section of Tooheys Rd by WACJV was in response to security concerns raised by local residents.
The report said WACJV had subsequently undertaken further consultation with the local community and was then committed to keeping Tooheys Rd open, with unimpeded access to the general public and emergency services.
However, WACJV indicated at that time, that the application to purchase a section of Tooheys Rd would remain in place to allow the installation, operation and service of a security monitoring system, such as cameras, along the length of Tooheys Rd, adjacent to the coal mining operations.
Submissions about the proposed sale of the Crown Land road are now open through the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Crown Lands and submissions should quote file reference number 19/09855.
Sue Murray