It is reported that four people have chained themselves to the conveyor belt of a coal mine south of Sydney. The three women and one man, in their early 20s, are protesting against the expansion of BHP Billiton's Dendrobium coalmine near Wollongong.

Police said that they arrested five people, four of whom allegedly had broken into the mine, and the fifth for helping them. They were taken to Wollongong Police Station and will likely be charged with trespass.

It is believed the five were members of a 3 day demonstration by a group calling themselves Climate Camp 09.

Climate Camp spokeswoman Ms Jess Miller said the group was protesting over concerns about the mine's impacts on the local river system. She added that "The expansion of polluting industries is being done recklessly and community members will not tolerate it. We need less pollution and more renewable energy like solar and wind. It's that simple."

One of the protesters, Ms Clare Silcock said that the protest is aimed at highlighting the impact the coal mine is having on the local environment. She added that "It's part of the climate camp that's been going on at Helensburgh, which is around the theme of water, climate and jobs to protest against the expansion and continued export of so much coal from the southern coalfields. It's having a negative local impact on water and also obviously the greater climate impact."

She said that the group plans to be there for some time. She added that "We're currently in negotiation with the police, well the police are here, I guess as long as it takes to get us off probably we're looking at another couple of hours timeframe."

(Sourced from www.abc.net.au)