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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

  • Penny Pearce
    signed 2021-09-15 09:33:14 +1000
  • alexa hanzikonstandis
    signed 2021-09-15 09:33:07 +1000
  • Lee Rodger
    signed 2021-09-15 09:33:05 +1000
    we ask for your kind understanding of the value of valley to everyone as a community of farmers protecting this area for the good of the world.

    Your interest has already been shown in environmental issues and know you will understand our position in wanting to have it back into our care.
  • Alison Parkes
    signed 2021-09-15 09:28:36 +1000
  • Felicity Davis
    signed 2021-09-15 09:27:19 +1000
    Absolutely! I am so thrilled that you have won! I was there, I think it was 2019 for the big rally. I have been hounding Rob Stokes , who is our State M.P. ,for years about this thru our Pittwater Knitting Nannas. We sit outside his office in Mona Vale every week and when he comes out to get lunch we are there and he has to talk to us! We have had proper talks with him too. So it is wonderful that you are back in your valley.
  • Paul Wilson
    signed 2021-09-15 09:24:38 +1000
  • Bronwen Evans
    signed 2021-09-15 09:24:37 +1000
  • Jessi Mervyn-Jones
    signed 2021-09-15 09:23:54 +1000
  • Kate Armstrong
    signed 2021-09-15 09:17:41 +1000
    It is time all fossil fuel mining was stopped worldwide. The Bylong Valley is just an example of the immense damage to communities and to our food and water security that these mines cause, not to mention the impact fossil fuels are having on our climate. Please help to keep the world safe by stopping all fossil fuel mining worldwide before 2030. Return the Bylong Valley to agriculture and to the communities that live there.
  • Bruce Redman
    signed 2021-09-15 09:17:12 +1000
  • Donald Skerman
    signed 2021-09-15 09:16:04 +1000
  • Peter Mort
    signed 2021-09-15 09:13:19 +1000
    Please return this iconic farmland to its former agricultural use and protect it against future industrialisation by mining, which would be so destructive of the long term ecology of the area.
  • Malcolm Ellenport
    signed 2021-09-15 09:11:26 +1000
  • Ralph Holmes
    signed 2021-09-15 09:10:02 +1000
  • Susanne Skates
    signed 2021-09-15 09:09:48 +1000
  • Jennie Wiles
    signed 2021-09-15 09:09:39 +1000
  • Michael Engelbretsen
    signed 2021-09-15 09:08:54 +1000
  • Elizabeth Pilven
    signed 2021-09-15 09:08:25 +1000
  • Skaidrite Roper
    signed 2021-09-15 09:08:19 +1000
  • Leanne Jackson
    signed 2021-09-15 09:06:41 +1000
  • Kerry Davidson
    signed 2021-09-15 09:05:25 +1000
  • Simon Clarke
    signed 2021-09-15 09:04:47 +1000
  • Carolyn Sharp
    signed 2021-09-15 09:04:26 +1000
    This is a beautiful valley that is perfectly suited for agriculture and it would be a great thing to see the farming community in full swing again.
  • Miles Bore
    signed 2021-09-15 09:03:48 +1000
  • Rosanna Perillo-Boutin
    signed 2021-09-15 09:03:07 +1000
    Mother nature needs the land to go back to the earth:). Then we need to take care of the soil. Our soil needs our attention with the intention for the preservation and celebration of all its richness.
  • Linley Thompson
    signed 2021-09-15 09:02:55 +1000
  • Lynn Benn
    signed 2021-09-15 09:00:18 +1000
    Let this community rebuild after all they have been through
  • Kerrie look McElgunn
    signed 2021-09-15 08:57:00 +1000
    This valuable land should never been even a possibility for a coal mine
  • Penelope Renshaw
    signed 2021-09-15 08:54:20 +1000
  • Barbara Dunn
    signed 2021-09-15 08:52:49 +1000