The Magnier family's Coolmore stud has won a bitter three-year battle against plans to develop a coalmine beside its stud farm in the scenic Hunter Valley in Australia.
Tom Magnier, principal of Coolmore Australia and son of horseracing magnate John Magnier, had led a campaign against the mine along with Darley studs and others in a lobby group called the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders .
The New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) announced this week it had ruled against the coalmine, which had hoped to extract 97 million tonnes of coal over the next 20 years.
The closest edge of the mine, which was to be developed by Anglo American’s Drayton South project, was within 403 metres of Coolmore’s stud fence lines.
The Irish stud owners have a massive 3,600-hectare farm in the Hunter Valley and is the home of champion sires including Fastnet Rock.
The commission agreed with the lobby group that the mine’s promoters had not done enough to protect the studs. “The [miner’s] approach of monitoring the responses of thoroughbred horses to the mine’s operation to address uncertainty is not acceptable, because once the damage to the operations of the studs occur, it is irreversible,’’ the commission report said.
“The economic benefits of the project do not outweigh the risk of losing Coolmore and Darley and the potential demise of the equine industry in the area with flow-on impacts on the viticultural and tourism industries.’’
In a statement yesterday, Mr Magnier said: “We are very relieved for our employees, their families, our clients and our community. It has shown that the process works and for that we are very grateful.”
Mr Magnier also told the Daily Telegraph, which broke news of the decision to him on Monday: "We can have greater confidence in our future and the future of the NSW [New South Wales] racehorse breeding industry.
“This is not about who won and who lost – if it is the case that the second PAC has agreed with the first, it would mean all the independent experts who have reviewed the situation concur this was simply the wrong mine, in the wrong place.
"The PAC's determination is welcomed. It provides our employees with peace of mind and our industry with confidence to invest in the future," Darley managing director Henry Plumptre added. "At a time when the thermal coal industry is in structural decline, it is important that we protect and preserve strategic and sustainable industries that will provide long-term jobs and the prospects of continued long term regional growth for generations to come."
The Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders group estimates that the Hunter Valley’s thoroughbred breeding industry is worth Aus $5 billion (€3.5 billion) to Australia and Aus $2.4 billion (€1.6 billion) to New South Wales.
Anglo American has said its mine would have employed 500 workers and generate $35 million in annual royalties for NSW. These figures were disputed by the breeders.
