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KEPCO Open Letter

Can you help us get the ear of the KEPCO CEO? We're calling on him to sell the land back for agriculture so our community can rebuild. Will you join us?

Phill Kennedy, President, Bylong Valley Protection Alliance


Dear Cheong Seung-il, CEO, KEPCO,

Today the NSW Court of Appeal ruled against KEPCO on appeal which means that the proposed Bylong coal project cannot proceed.

We, the undersigned, are calling on you to respond by relinquishing the exploration lease for the project and selling the land back to agricultural interests. We can see no valid basis for KEPCO to continue with the project. 

The Bylong proposal is beset by severe environmental, social and economic risks. There is fierce and widespread opposition to the project in Australia and both of KEPCO’s legal challenges have failed.

It is also a legacy project planned and conceived many years ago that now has no place given the energy transformation that is underway. 

South Korea’s new electricity plan - finalised in December 2020 - will see thermal coal consumption drop by almost 19 million tonnes per annum by 2030.  The Bylong coal project is inconsistent with this Green New Deal that is underway.

We note that KEPCO has advised the Korean Government that they have recently had an offer for purchase of the land from agricultural interests.

In order to avoid sinking yet more large sums of money into a stranded asset that will besmirch KEPCO’s reputation, we encourage you to relinquish the exploration lease and enable the land to be returned to agriculture and nature conservation.

Regenerative agriculture and carbon farming at Bylong would provide a global climate benefit that would be a credit to KEPCO.

Please act now to relinquish the exploration lease and enable the local community to rebuild around a new, clean future.

Will you sign?


Showing 30 reactions

  • Stephen Hogan
    signed 2021-09-21 09:37:41 +1000
    A great result for the future.
  • Michelle Nickerson
    signed 2021-09-21 09:11:43 +1000
  • Nigel Burley
    signed 2021-09-21 08:39:48 +1000
  • Elizabeth Hewson
    signed 2021-09-21 08:28:02 +1000
  • Varesha Stepanavicius
    signed 2021-09-20 23:33:34 +1000
  • Stephanie Robertson
    signed 2021-09-20 22:30:10 +1000
  • Marilyn Goninon
    signed 2021-09-20 21:04:17 +1000
  • Karl Weatherley
    signed 2021-09-20 19:43:40 +1000
  • Michael Scrivener
    signed 2021-09-20 17:53:41 +1000
  • Walter H Moreno
    signed 2021-09-20 15:24:40 +1000
  • Marie Hensley
    signed 2021-09-20 13:30:53 +1000
  • Kathy Cavel
    signed 2021-09-20 13:28:16 +1000
  • Genevieve Doran
    signed 2021-09-20 09:54:18 +1000
  • Ian Price
    signed 2021-09-20 09:36:44 +1000
  • Simon Barton
    signed 2021-09-20 09:27:38 +1000
  • Lyn McClure
    signed 2021-09-20 09:06:13 +1000
  • Kathryn Green
    signed 2021-09-20 08:57:34 +1000
  • Paul Clapham
    signed 2021-09-20 08:34:46 +1000
    Compulsory purchase is theft under a different name . Give the land back to the local owners.
  • Ian Newman
    signed 2021-09-20 07:26:08 +1000
  • Yolanda Newman
    signed 2021-09-20 07:23:03 +1000
  • Jan Walsh
    signed 2021-09-20 06:45:53 +1000
  • Susan White
    signed 2021-09-19 22:57:20 +1000
    Please allow the land to be restored to agriculture.
  • Brian Wilson
    signed 2021-09-19 22:39:09 +1000
  • pierre luniere
    signed 2021-09-19 22:00:09 +1000
  • Raylee Selway
    signed 2021-09-19 21:58:39 +1000
  • Julie Paterson
    signed 2021-09-19 20:02:20 +1000
  • Lynette Singleton
    signed 2021-09-19 20:02:17 +1000
  • Linda Wilson
    signed 2021-09-19 19:22:10 +1000
  • Tim Scrace
    signed 2021-09-19 19:07:00 +1000
    Now that your proposed mine is dead, the land (our land) is of no further use to you. I propose that you return the land free of change to the previous owners as a gesture of goodwill to a country that fought to protect you from Communist domination.
  • Ann Lindsay
    signed 2021-09-19 19:06:40 +1000