Winchester South project - Revised draft environmental impact statement

Overview

Queensland's Coordinator-General invites you to have your say on the revised draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Winchester South project.

Prepared by Whitehaven WS Pty Ltd, the revised draft EIS provides additional information needed to evaluate the environmental effects of the project and respond to submissions received on the draft EIS.

You are invited to make a submission on the revised draft EIS, including on the project’s potential environmental impacts and the effectiveness of the measures proposed to manage those impacts.

The Coordinator-General will consider all submissions as part of the evaluation.

About the project

The proponent, Whitehaven WS Pty Ltd, proposes to develop the $1 billion Winchester South project. The project includes an open cut coal mine with a connection to the Norwich Park Branch Railway, a water pipeline to the Eungella pipeline network, an electricity transmission line and access road. The mine would produce up to 11 million tonnes per annum of primarily metallurgical product coal used for steel making, for up to 28 years. The proposed mine site is located approximately 30 kilometres south-east of Moranbah, Queensland, within the Isaac Regional Council local government area.

Whitehaven WS Pty Ltd has now prepared a revised draft environmental impact statement (EIS), responding to submissions on the draft EIS in August and September 2021 and other information.

On 17 April 2019, the Coordinator-General declared the project a ‘coordinated project’ under section 26(1)(a) of the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971, triggering the requirement for an EIS.

On 17 and 18 July 2019, a delegate of the Australian Minister for the Environment and Water determined that the project, proposed as three referrals, is likely to have a significant impact upon matters of national environmental significance and will require approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act) before it can proceed. The controlling provisions include listed threatened species and communities (sections 18 and 18A) (EPBC 2019/8458, 2019/8459 and 2019/8460) and a water resource in relation to coal seam gas development and large coal mining development (sections 24D and 24E) (EPBC 2019/8460).

The project will be assessed under the assessment bilateral agreement between the Queensland and Australian Governments. The Coordinator-General’s EIS evaluation report will be provided to the Australian Minister. The Australian Minister may rely on the outcomes of the Coordinator-General’s assessment process, including any public submissions, in making a decision under the EPBC Act.

How to make a submission

Submissions on the revised draft EIS are invited from Monday, 21 November 2022 to Monday, 19 December 2022. For information about making a submission to the Coordinator-General, please refer to the fact sheet Have your say on a revised draft environmental impact statement and accompanying submission form, available online and at the public display locations listed below.

The draft EIS is available to view online from Monday, 21 November 2022 at www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/winchestersouth. An electric copy is also available from the proponent via telephone (07) 3738 2000 or email winchestersouthcoal@whitehavencoal.com.au. If you need help reading the revised draft EIS, or if English is your second language, please call 131 450. This free service will help you read and understand the revised draft EIS and other relevant project information.

An electronic copy of the revised draft EIS will be available to view between Monday 21 November 2022 to Monday 19 December 2022, during the venues’ business hours:

• Dysart Library, Shannon Crescent, Dysart
• Moranbah Library, Grosvenor Complex, Batchelor Parade, Town Square Moranbah
• Middlemount Library, Middlemount Shopping Centre, Carter Place, Middlemount
• Nebo Library, 10 Reynolds Street, Nebo
• State Library of Queensland, Cultural Centre, Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane
• National Library of the Australia, Parkes Place, Canberra.

Send your submission to the Coordinator-General using one of the following methods:

1. Click on the ‘Make a submission’ link below
2. Email your submission to winchestersouth@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au
3. Post your submission to:
   
   Attention: Coordinator-General
   c/ Project Manager, Winchester South project
   Office of the Coordinator-General
   PO Box 15517
   City East QLD 4002 Australia

Note: If you wish to attach anything to your submission (e.g. maps, images or supporting documents), please use the email option instead of the online form.

While you are encouraged to use the submission form, it is not mandatory. Your submission, including any personal information you provide in connection with your submission, may be disclosed by the Coordinator-General to the project proponent and to other local, State and Commonwealth government agencies. Your personal information will otherwise be dealt with in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld). If you have special communication needs, telephone the EIS project manager on +61 7 3035 2011 to make alternative submission arrangements.

What happens next

Following the end of the submission period for the revised draft EIS, the Coordinator-General will consider whether further information is required or whether the EIS can be finalised and commence preparation of the report evaluating the EIS.