A KOREAN mining company’s commitment to pioneering farming methods at Bylong Valley’s Tarwyn Park are under question after a Newcastle University institute said it was not involved with the project.
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The Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment said there was “no arrangement” between the institute and Korean state energy corporation Kepco which has proposed a new coal mine in the valley over land including Tarwyn Park.
This followed unsuccessful talks over a number of months, institute director Professor Tim Roberts said.
The institute will be represented at a Save Tarwyn Park event on Sunday (July 31) when the iconic property’s gates will be open to the public for the last time, after the property was sold to Kepco in 2014 following three years of opposition by previous owner Stuart Andrews.
Mr Andrews’ father Peter Andrews, who developed the natural sequence farming method at Tarwyn Park, has been squatting on the property for several weeks and said he planned to stay at Tarwyn Park after expiry of a lease at midnight on Sunday.
In its environmental impact statement for a new coal mine, currently being considered by the Department of Planning, Kepco proposed a “small trial area … to investigate the benefits of natural sequence farming that has been pioneered in the locality”.
The trial “may involve other organisations such as the Tom Farrell Institute”, Kepco said.
Professor Roberts said he met with Kepco representatives and consultants to see if a research project could be established at Tarwyn Park to study natural sequence farming methods. The institute rejected Kepco’s initial proposal because the company would retain any intellectual property resulting from a project.
Kepco subsequently rejected a $12 million proposal put forward by the institute, he said. Tarwyn Park should be preserved and showcased as an example of successful land restoration in Australia, he said.
A Kepco spokesperson said the company had committed to undertake a comprehensive study into soil hydrology at Tarwyn Park.
“This is documented in the Environmental Impact Statement for the Bylong Coal Project. KEPCO has discussed this works with respected institutions including the Tom Farrell Institute of the University of Newcastle. An agreement was unable to be reached with them.”
