ulIn the NSW Hunter Valley, residents of the tiny village of Bulga are gearing up for the latest battle in their long-running attempt to protect their village being swallowed by coal mining.

A tiny town of 350 people, Bulga is the gateway to coal mining's great expansion into the Hunter Valley.

On the entrance to the village is a sign which proudly declares it be the Gateway to the Hunter.

However, it is a smaller sign beneath - proudly declaring the town to be the 2012 winner of the Bush Spirit award - which gives some indication of the fight that has been fought here.

John and Leslie Krey have been at the forefront of the battle to keep their village on the map.

"I think that the State Government and their keenness to please the mine is going to be the end of Bulga," John Krey said.

"We'll be looking straight at a mine and it works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

"This is no longer the countryside that we came to, this is now becoming an industrial area."
Bulga in the spotlight after legal win over Rio Tinto

A year ago the Kreys and the Bulga-Milbrowdale Progress Association were celebrating.

Bulga thought it had seen off Rio Tinto when it went to the Environment Court and defeated the company's proposal to expand its Mount Thorley Warkworth Mine.

Rod McGeoch, a lawyer who led the bid for the Sydney Olympics, was enlisted to advise and negotiate for the Singleton Council.

"They won on every single argument, dust, noise, economic impact. Quality of the economic figures involved. Everything," Mr McGeoch said.

"I thought the moist grievous injustice was when the Bulga community won the appeal and suffered immense public criticism.

"All they did was exercise their legal rights and beat one of the biggest mining companies in the world."

Bulga's legal victory pushed the village into the spotlight, winning it influential new friends.

Broadcaster Alan Jones from Radio 2GB was one of them. His message to the mining company was forthright and clear.

"Rio Tinto, stop being greedy. You are only destroying the reputation of the mining industry and your company," Mr Jones said.

"The people who see your pictures and hear your story on this segment will not be able to believe the rapacious approach of Rio Tinto."
Mine approval necessary to save jobs, says Rio Tinto

Despite last year's court ruling, which its appealed, Rio Tinto has just lodged a new application to extend the mine.

Chris Salisbury, the managing director of Rio Tinto Coal Australia, says the application to extend the mine is necessary to save jobs.

"We cannot keep operating at the current level of production, which means job losses. Some of our 1,300 employees and contractors will lose their jobs," Mr Salisbury said.

Rio Tinto wants to mine the ridgeline which separates Bulga from the mining operation, despite originally committing never to do so.

The company acknowledges it has changed its plan but says the mine's economics have changed too.

While Rio Tinto disputes that pushing forward into the valley amounts to an "expansion", most residents take a different view.

"They'll virtually halve the distance between that ridge and our village," John Krey said.
Economic considerations at the forefront of the appeal

The New South Wales Government has joined Rio Tinto in appealing the Environment Court's decision, while changing its planning approval rules to ensure economic considerations take priority.

Economic considerations are also at the forefront for those who work at the open-cut coal mine.

Deborah McKendry quit her job as a real estate agent to become a bulldozer operator.

"I really enjoy my job here at Mount Thorley and I enjoy all the challenges that I am given here," Ms McKendry said.

"There's not a lot of job opportunities out there for a middle-aged woman either."

Rio Tinto has offered Bulga a revised assistance package that includes the voluntary purchase of 24 of the villages' 152 homes.

For John Krey, the housing deal is a no deal.

"That's going to destroy our village; there is nothing that could get us to say we think this is now a good deal," he said.

The joint State Government and Rio Tinto appeal to overturn the Environment Court decision is now before the New South Wales Supreme Court. A decision is expected soon.

Source: ABC