A Muswellbrook councillor has called for coal mining in the shire to be capped, on the back of a medical study that links mining to a raft of health and environmental problems.
Cr Christine Phelps said she was not surprised by the report – published in the Medical Journal of Australia this week – which found that the mining and burning of coal changed the lifestyle and character of a community.
“I’m disappointed that the community has been convinced in their own minds for so long [about the effects of mining] and yet it has taken so long for this to come out,” she said.
The report said medical practitioners in coal mining areas had reported that increases in asthma, stress and mental ill health had become more common.
“As more coalmines are opened, as has occurred in parts of the Hunter Valley in NSW, the social fabric of a region changes, the role and function of a township alters, and many inhabitants of these regions have developed depression, anxiety and ill health,” the study said.
Muswellbrook Chronicle
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