<p>The mining company Kepco has failed in its final legal bid to challenge a decision to reject its plans for an open-cut coalmine in the New South Wales Bylong Valley. Environmentalists and members of the Bylong Valley community are now calling on the South Korean company to walk away and sell its land back to farming families rather than submitting a revised development proposal for the project.</p><p>The high court on has declined to hear Kepco’s appeal that sought to challenge the NSW Independent Planning Commission’s decision in 2019 to reject its development application. The commission refused development approval for the greenfield coalmine, citing the unacceptable impact the mine would have on agricultural land and the environment – including through greenhouse gas emissions – and the costs to future generations. Its decision was subsequently upheld by the NSW land and environment court and the court of appeal.</p><p>The high court’s decision exhausts the company’s final legal avenue for the project in its current form and brings to an end a lengthy battle for Bylong Valley community members who have fought the project for years.</p>
<p>The mining company Kepco has failed in its final legal bid to challenge a decision to reject its plans for an open-cut coalmine in the New South Wales Bylong Valley. Environmentalists and members of the Bylong Valley community are now calling on the South Korean company to walk away and sell its land back to farming families rather than submitting a revised development proposal for the project.</p><p>The high court on has declined to hear Kepco’s appeal that sought to challenge the NSW Independent Planning Commission’s decision in 2019 to reject its development application. The commission refused development approval for the greenfield coalmine, citing the unacceptable impact the mine would have on agricultural land and the environment – including through greenhouse gas emissions – and the costs to future generations. Its decision was subsequently upheld by the NSW land and environment court and the court of appeal.</p><p>The high court’s decision exhausts the company’s final legal avenue for the project in its current form and brings to an end a lengthy battle for Bylong Valley community members who have fought the project for years.</p>
