Mr Baird made the comment after taking a helicopter flight above Woodlands Stud in Denman to see how close the nearby Drayton South mine was to the multi-million dollar horse breeding industry. 

Asked whether he agreed with Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ­comment that coal is “good for humanity”, the Premier said there was “no doubt coal is good”. 

“It’s an important part of the economy and has been for a long time and the expectation is it will be for many years going forward,” he said. “There are opportunities for co-existence here.”

Mr Baird, accompanied by Planning Minister Rob Stokes, ­earlier met workers at the Drayton mine which, which is seeking to extend its operation to within a ­kilometre of the horse studs.

The mine recently submitted a third proposal for the project after the Planning Assessment Commission concluded on two occasions that the mine was incompatible with the neighbouring  horse breeding industry.

Mr Baird promised to end the uncertainty surrounding planning decisions such as Dryton South and did not rule out making changes to the commission.

‘‘Everything can always be better and I think it’s fair to say from a planning context that there are things that weren’t done last term that we’d like to consider going forward,’’ he said.

The whirlwind tour, which fulfilled a pre-election commitment to walk and talk to mining-affected communities, also visited Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley Warkworth mine and neighbouring community of Bulga yesterday afternoon.

The NSW Minerals Council ­welcomed Mr Baird’s visit to two Hunter mines.

‘‘The visit allows the Premier to meet some of the 1800 hard-working miners whose jobs are hanging in the balance, caught up in the NSW planning system,’’ Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said. 

The Minerals Council has urged the government to adopt an assessment system based on science, facts and evidence.

However, Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association asked Mr Baird to stop the Warkworth ­extension, which the Planning Assessment Commission recommends be approved, in order to save the historic village. 

The commission noted the project would have a significant adverse social and environmental impacts.

However, changes to the state environment planning policy that dictated the mine’s economic value needed to prioritised, meant it had little option but to recommend approval.

“Of course, we know that protecting Bulga alone won’t solve the conflicts raging across the Hunter Valley, and so hope that the Government will take broader action,’’ progress association vice-president John Krey said.

‘‘However it’s comforting for us to know that there is a very simple way that the premier and planning minister can make it impossible for the Planning and Assessment Commission to approve this mine if they’re serious about justice for Bulga,” Mr Krey said.

Opposition leader Luke Foley said the government needed ‘‘to stop talking out of two sides of its mouth’’ to the mining industry and its critics, and commit to scrapping planning rules that prioritise the economic benefits of mine proposals over social and environmental costs.

But he acknowledged conflicts in the Upper Hunter between mining and residents or other industries would still continue as ‘‘you can never make everyone happy’’.

Asked if Labor supported the controversial Drayton South and Mount Thorley Warkworth expansions, Mr Foley said: ‘‘I support an independent arms-length Planning Assessment Commission weighing all the benefits and all the costs of these proposed mines’’.

‘‘I don’t think politicians should be giving proposals the thumbs up or down,’’ he said.