More than 100 people addressed the Independent Planning Commission during its three-day public hearing into the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) Continuation Project. None were required to appear. They chose to. Here is a snapshot of the workers, business owners, volunteers, parents and community leaders who shared what the project means beyond the mine gate.
Mine closures and decline is a reality for us. We live it every day and so do the other 50,000 people that are reliant on mining in the Hunter region.
Approving the HVO Extension Project with the Department’s recommended conditions is consistent with that state policy pathway. It buys this region something it cannot buy in any other way – time. Time to build what comes next in a way that is planned, not panicked.
This region has powered NSW for generations. We are not asking you to freeze that role in place. We are asking you to approve this project with strength in conditions, so this community has the time, the revenue and the stability to power what comes next for Muswellbrook, for Singleton, and for the entire Hunter.
Cr Jeff Drayon, Mayor of Muswellbrook Shire Council
I was born and raised in the Hunter Valley. This is my home. For the past nine years, I’ve worked at HVO. I’m not a mining executive or an expert. I’m a local resident, employee, a husband, a father.
I care about the environment, it’s my backyard. As a supervisor, I oversee rehabilitation of land at HVO. We have rehabilitated between 50 hectares and 70 hectares of land in the past three years that I’ve been a part of, including laying topsoil and reseeding native species. I’ve seen firsthand that responsible mining and caring for the land are not opposite.
For some, this is just a planning matter. But for me and my family and thousands like us, the decision is about whether we can keep paying the mortgage, whether our kids can grow up with opportunities close to home and whether the communities can stay strong.
Corey Ayre, HVO Supervisor
J&S is a family-owned company based in the Hunter Valley. My father founded the company, and I’ve worked there for the past 28 years. So, when I speak about our company, I’m speaking about something that’s deeply personal to me and to my family and the 105 employees that we have.
If this Continuation Project is not approved, we estimate that we will have to reduce our workforce by around 30%. They’re not numbers to me. Many have worked beside me for many years. I know them, I know their families. I’ve watched their children grow up.
I’m here today in support of this continuation because of what it means to our business, to the many other businesses, to the workers at HVO and to the wider community.
Kristy Bunt, General Manager of J&S Engineering
Business Hunter has consistently advocated for a balanced and pragmatic approach to the energy transition and economic transformation that the Hunter region has before it. The transition and transformation must not occur at the expense of existing business and industry.
We seek to ensure communities, businesses, industries and government can navigate the complex shift towards net zero and economic transformation with confidence, certainty and stability.
The HVO North and South Open Cut Continuation Project represents an essential step in continuing support for that same economic and community confidence, certainty and stability we must seek while providing time for the region and its myriad of stakeholders to plan for and implement long-term transition and transformation strategies. No one should be under the impression that this region is there yet.
Bob Hawes, CEO of Business Hunter
I am not here as a mining expert, an economist or a planner. I’m here as a parent, grandparent and a long-time member of the Jerrys Plains community.
For more than 10 years, Hunter Valley Operations has stood beside our school. During that time, they have never simply written a cheque and walked away. They have listened to our needs and consistently supported projects that improved opportunities for our children.
One of the most significant examples has been the Ready for School Transition Program, which HVO funded from 2015 to 2024. Thanks to HVO support, children attended a structural transition program led by a qualified teacher, giving them social, emotional and academic foundations that they needed to begin school with confidence.
When our priorities changed, they were happy to fund a much bigger dream, a new playground. That playground is something our families have been funding towards for years.
Di Gee, President of the Jerrys Plains Public School Parents and Citizens 5 Association
I am part of six generations of our family to live in the Singleton and surrounding areas. I started as an apprentice electrician in January 1980 at HVO and retired as an engineering officer in 2025 after working there for my entire working life.
This mine has allowed me to support, raise and educate my family and support them into adulthood, with one of my sons now employed at HVO. I am just one of thousands that HVO has allowed to live and support our families in this community through their employment there. This mine has many families with multiple members of the family having worked or still working there. Husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
This mine is part of the history of many families in the Hunter, and we want it to stay that way.
Gregory Butler, Local Resident
As the elected representative of the workers at HVO, my primary driver is and always will be worker safety, health and happiness. The people I represent rely on HVO to feed their families, but the economic reality goes much deeper than the direct mine employees.
Global demand for coal remains a reality. Because that demand exists the choice before us is not whether coal will be mined, but where and how.
Australia’s coal industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the world. If you choose not to approve the continuation of HVO you will not reduce the global coal demand; you will simply shift it. That supply gap will immediately be filled by nations where worker safety is non-existent and environmental regulations are ignored.
By supporting the continuation of HVO, you are supporting a heavily regulated, deeply compliant and highly unionised workforce that looks after its people and its environment.
Rebecca McDonald, HVO Employee and President of the Hunter Valley United Lodge
I left school before the age of 15 and it was the opportunities provided by the mining sector that allowed me to build a local business that today employs 60 locals, including three apprentices.
Mining has come a long way over the years, mining practices, safety methods, but most of all, the mining companies have become good neighbours. If you want to meet a real environmentalist, you need to go to a mine site and meet with the passionately committed environmental teams of the mining sector.
We love our town and our local community, and it is very disappointing when people do not live here tell us what a terrible place it is to live. We must stand up and defend our communities.
Geoffrey Bowditch, Local Resident
The Wonnarua people are the traditional custodians of much of the Hunter Valley region. Our connection to this country stretches back thousands of years and our responsibility is to care for country, protect our culture, and create opportunities for our people today and for future generations.
Our support is about more than the continuation of mining. It is about ensuring that Aboriginal people are genuine partners in the future of this region. For us, the mine extension represents an opportunity to continue closing the gap through employment, training, business development and long-term economic participation.
Today we employ Aboriginal people in land management and local mine sites. Rehabilitation is more than just restoring landscapes. For the Wonnarua people, rehabilitation is about healing country. Country is central to who we are. It holds our stories, our culture, our ancestors and our identity.
That is why we support this mine extension, not simply because it extends mining but because it extends opportunities.
Laurie Perry, CEO of the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation
