After almost five years of planning, a new rail receival and export terminal has been approved for construction at the Port of Newcastle.
The New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission has determined the Port Waratah Coal Services proposal for a fourth coal terminal at Newcastle can be approved “with stringent conditions”.
The $4.8 billion open access coal export terminal, Terminal 4, would have the capacity to ship 70 million tonnes of coal per annum.
Constructing the terminal would involve the development of new rail and coal receival infrastructure, comprising up to four arrival tracks, two dump stations and up to four departure sidings.
The terminal would also include coal stockpile pads, stackers and reclaimers, wharf and berth infrastructure for up to two shiploaders, and berthing for up to three ships.
Under the approval, PWCS will undertake contamination and remediation works and site preparation ground treatment, including pre-loading for foundation, with sand dredged from the Hunter River.
The project also includes associated infrastructure like roads, fences, landscaping, car parks, water management infrastructure and temporary facilities.
Because of its close proximity to a Ramsar wetlands site, the Planning Assessment Commission ruled PWCS must prioritise certain biodiversity and remediation works.
Adverse environmental impacts must be minimised and regularly monitored.
PWCS will also build three biodiversity offset sites at Ellalong Lagoon, Brundee Swamp Nature Reserve, and Tomago.
PWCS first lodged the application for Terminal 4, which will be situated on Kooragang Island, in 2010. At that stage the coal export business was considering a site that could allow a throughput of 120 million tonnes of coal per annum.
While the scope of the project has been reduced, the site will still have the potential to expand, with further development approval.
PWCS chief executive Henni du Plooy said the world has changed since the company originally lodged the application, and the need for extra coal export capacity is not so immediate.
The approval process has involved around 1700 days of assessment, 125 days of public exhibition and 30 hours of public hearings.
The project will now be reviewed by the Commonwealth under the Environmental Protection and biodiversity Conservation Act.
This article originally appeared on Rail Express affiliate Lloyd’s List Australia. See the original here.