Bowdens silver mine reassessment draws protest as NSW review reopens approval process

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Bowdens mine review protest

Highlights

NSW Independent Planning Commission reopened approval for the A$1 billion Bowdens Silver Mines project after the August 2024 Court of Appeal decision voided the previous 2023 approval.
The reassessment excludes the 13-kilometre transmission line from its scope due to new state legislation, but the mine's extraction plan remains unchanged at 30 million tonnes over 23 years.
While 97 speakers are scheduled to present opposition, a company-commissioned August 2026 survey found 84 percent of the local population held positive or neutral views about the project.

Court-ordered review and hearing process

As reported by ABC News, the Independent Planning Commission has begun a three-day reassessment of the A$1 billion Bowdens Silver Mines Limited project in Central West New South Wales after the NSW Court of Appeal voided the original approval in August 2024.

The mine had been approved by the commission in April 2023, but the court later found the panel should have examined the potential environmental impacts of the project's 13-kilometre transmission line. The legal challenge was brought by the Bingman Catchment Landcare Group, after the Department of Planning and Environment had treated the transmission line as requiring a separate application.

In response to that ruling, the state government passed legislative changes allowing off-site infrastructure for state significant projects to be assessed separately. With the earlier approval still void, a new three-person commission panel appointed in September is now making a fresh determination, and the IPC says the previous decision has no influence on the new assessment.

Under the revised legal framework, the proposed transmission infrastructure is not part of the application now being reconsidered. No changes have been made to the original mine proposal, although Silver Mines Limited has submitted additional advice to the state's planning department for consideration.

Local opposition and economic arguments

Community resistance is again visible in Mudgee, where opponents have driven tractors through the town in a protest echoing similar action in 2023. The planned mine site sits about 2 kilometres from the village of Lue and its local primary school, keeping environmental and lifestyle concerns at the centre of the debate.

Silver Mines managing director Jo Battershill tells the panel the project's case is stronger than when it was first approved, citing its value to the local and regional economy, New South Wales strategic minerals goals and the broader renewable energy transition. He also points to additional biodiversity and climate change assessments that, he says, leave the project's merits unchanged.

Opponents are set to make their case in detail, with 97 speakers scheduled over the three hearing days. Lue farmer Tom Combes, one of the speakers, describes the proposal as "just nuts" and says residents' lifestyle, health and amenity are at risk.

The application approved in 2023 involves extracting 30 million tonnes of silver, lead and zinc over 23 years. Battershill also refers to a supplementary report from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure that finds the project's benefits outweigh its residual costs and that it is in the public interest, while a company-commissioned survey from August 2026 finds 84 per cent of people in the surrounding region hold positive or neutral views on the project.

Our earlier coverage of the McPhillamys Gold Project outlined how a Federal Court ruling found an Aboriginal Protection Order over part of the approved development was made without authority, sending the matter back to the federal environment minister for redetermination. The article also explained why the disputed area—earmarked for a tailings facility—was argued to be central to project viability, while local Aboriginal groups maintained it had cultural heritage significance, triggering a renewed regulatory review.

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