Two more Environment Court challenges have been lodged against Bathurst Resources and its plans to mine up to two million tonnes of high-grade coking coal from the Denniston plateau, near Westport on the West Coast.
In a brief market update yesterday, Bathurst said it had been informed that an appeal had been made by the Fairdown-Whareatea Residents Association.
It was understood the appeal is not strictly on environmental lines, but has issues with a proposed stockpile and processing facility near a residential area.
Later yesterday, a third appeal was lodged the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.
In a statement released last month, residents association spokesman Tony Peet said the group's 90 members, who are already under threat from a hydro dam development on unstable land above the area, now face the prospect of having a 12m high by 300m long coal stockpile, vibrating dewatering screen and rail load-out facility operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week in their midst, and discharging into an unpolluted river.
"The decision on the escarpment mine was released on the Fairdown-Whareatea Residents Association website and it had not met any of the resident's concerns," Mr Peet said.
Last week the West Coast Environment Network filed a separate appeal with the Environment Court challenging Bathurst's consents.
West Coast Environment Network spokeswoman Karen Mayhew said at the time the opencast mining would involve digging up a rare landscape and the habitat of threatened species, citing the 200ha of land as being of high conservation value.
Subject to the mediation and the appeal process, Bathurst wants to begin mining on the plateau by the end of the year.
