15 June 2026
Please note: The information in this article is superseded, please see notice - public hearing for the most updated information.
A public hearing will be held by the Independent Planning Commission on two State significant development applications (SSD-11826681 & SSD-11826621) lodged by HV Operations Pty Ltd, for the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) North and South open cut coal mine continuation projects. Collectively the two projects are known as the HVO Continuation Project.
The existing HVO open cut mining complex, which comprises HVO North and HVO South, is located approximately 24 kilometres north-west of Singleton.
HVO North Open Cut Coal continuation project is partially located in both the Muswellbrook Shire Council and Singleton Council local government areas. HVO South Open Cut Coal continuation project is located in the Singleton Council local government area.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has completed its whole-of-government assessment and referred the applications to the Commission for determination. The Commission is the consent authority because the Department received more than 50 unique submissions objecting to each application.
Commissioners Simon Smith (Chair), Janett Milligan and Michael Chilcott have been appointed by the Commission Chair to determine the development applications.
The key matters identified in the Department’s whole-of-government assessment of the development applications include greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, water resources, air quality, noise, social, economics, traffic, blasting and vibration, Aboriginal cultural heritage, historic heritage, visual, hazards, rehabilitation and land use.
The Commission has access to all previous written submissions made to the Department, however it is particularly helpful for the Commission to also hear the community’s views on the Department’s Assessment Report and recommended conditions, which can be found on the Commission’s website.
The community is invited to make verbal submissions to the Panel by speaking at a public hearing on the project to be held at the Branxton Community Hall located at 35 Bowen St, Branxton NSW 2335 on Thursday 16 July and Friday 17 July 2026, commencing at 10:00AM (AEST) on both days. Speakers at the public hearing must pre-register on the Commission’s website using the Speaker Registration Form. The deadline for speaker registrations is 12:00PM noon (AEST) on Wednesday 8 July 2026.
The Commission is also inviting the public to make written submissions via the Make a Submission portal on the Commission’s website by 11:59PM (AEST) on Sunday 26 July 2026. Please note, submissions can only be lodged via the portal and are no longer accepted via email.
Please note
The public hearing will be livestreamed on the Commission’s YouTube channel. Registered speakers will be asked to nominate their preference for presenting at the public hearing either in-person at the venue, via videoconference or by dialling in by telephone. Please note that if the demand for either in-person or virtual attendance is low, the Commission may opt to conduct the meeting either entirely virtually or entirely in person. Similarly, if demand for speaker timeslots is high and Thursday 16 July and Friday 17 July 2026 become fully booked, the Commission will endeavour to schedule a virtual session on a third day. If either of these scenarios occur, this will be fully communicated to all registered speakers in advance, including how the Commission can assist people to attend the meeting virtually.