Visiting the people and places threatened by coal mining

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th February 2018

• Departing Sydney 6am Saturday, picking up in Newcastle 8:30am Saturday.
• Return Newcastle 4:30pm Sunday, return Sydney 7pm Sunday.
• Purchase tickets below. Price covers travel and meals. Accommodation will be free camping.

The Hunter Valley is at the crossroads. For the past decade, we have been subjected to a relentless string of new and expanded coal mine projects that have pushed the impacts of mining to a crisis point. Air pollution smothers our towns, proud rural villages are being pushed to breaking point, and our non-mining industries struggle to survive.

Now, as the thermal coal industry enters into global decline, two very different visions for the future of the Hunter Valley are vying.

The coal lobby's vision is more coal mining. They want new mines approved, and existing mines to continue expanding and swallowing up surrounding landscapes and communities. They will happily condemn the Hunter Valley and its people to go down on the sinking ship of the thermal coal market, with no others industries left to replace it when it’s gone.

Our vision is for a vibrant and prosperous post-coal Hunter region that's free from the chains of mining dependence, where agricultural industries regrow and new industries flourish.

We invite you to join us to visit people and places of the Hunter Valley that are threatened by coal mining, and join our campaign for an alternative vision for our region.

The tour will include:

• Learning about the culture and history of the Wonnarua Aboriginal people of the Hunter, and the impacts of mining on their landscapes and places.

• Meeting with the Bulga community, to learn about their 7 year struggle against the Warkworth mine expansion that threatens the survival of their village.

• Lunch with Hunter hero Wendy Bowman, winner of the 2017 Goldman Prize for her efforts to save Camberwell from the South East Open Cut coal mine.

• A visit to Muswellbrook, a town already heavily affected by air pollution from coal-mining, but subject to several new nearby open cut coal mine projects.

• A barbecue with the community of Wollar, which is threatened with extinction by the expansion of Wilpinjong coal mine.

• A tour of the spectacular Bylong Valley, a rich agricultural area and home to the iconic birthplace of natural sequence farming, Tarwyn Park, under threat by the proposed Bylong coal mine.