Skip navigation

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

  • Paul Melvo
    signed 2021-09-14 17:45:06 +1000
    I think the polly involved with this should be jailed Gaoled??

    In my younger years I lived in Rylestone and know the Valley very well.

    Thank God for common sence
  • Helen and George Manos
    signed 2021-09-14 17:44:18 +1000
    How dare they try to ruin farms and agriculture with mines and water theft in 2021! Keep them out of our agriculture.
  • Warwick Tweedie
    signed 2021-09-14 17:44:13 +1000
  • Vanessa Blakeley
    signed 2021-09-14 17:44:13 +1000
  • Michael Streatfeild
    signed 2021-09-14 17:44:08 +1000
  • Suzy McLaren
    signed 2021-09-14 17:44:06 +1000
  • Nikki Heywood
    signed 2021-09-14 17:43:32 +1000
    So wonderful the NS Court of Appeals saw sense in making their decision.

    A great victory for the locals and for the planet.
  • Susan Meyer
    signed 2021-09-14 17:43:19 +1000
    Land for the farming community not broad acre – those small towns need people who care not large multi-nationals
  • Meg Buchtmann
    signed 2021-09-14 17:43:15 +1000
  • Brian Brown
    signed 2021-09-14 17:42:56 +1000
  • Michael Oldfield
    signed 2021-09-14 17:42:38 +1000
  • Barry Mews
    signed 2021-09-14 17:42:02 +1000
  • Robin Humphrey
    signed 2021-09-14 17:42:02 +1000
  • Craig Watson
    signed 2021-09-14 17:41:52 +1000
    A great outcome only bettered by a return to farming
  • Seán Burke
    signed 2021-09-14 17:41:42 +1000
  • Christine Hugo
    signed 2021-09-14 17:41:42 +1000
  • Annette Morris
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:45 +1000
  • Jens Svensson
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:36 +1000
  • Fraser Rowe
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:21 +1000
  • Kaye Beckwith
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:21 +1000
  • Eric Davis
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:19 +1000
  • Gina Richter
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:07 +1000
  • Sonya Gillies
    signed 2021-09-14 17:40:04 +1000
    This is prime agricultural land. Restore it to farming families – not big agribusiness- so a thriving community can re-grow in the Bylong Valley.
  • Jacque Alway
    signed 2021-09-14 17:39:21 +1000
  • John Philpott
    signed 2021-09-14 17:39:21 +1000
  • Lindy Jones
    signed 2021-09-14 17:39:19 +1000
  • Robert Mylchreest
    signed 2021-09-14 17:38:54 +1000
  • Emmanuel Fardoulis
    signed 2021-09-14 17:38:43 +1000
    As you know coal and other fossil fuels are out.
  • Boudicca Cerese
    signed 2021-09-14 17:38:18 +1000
  • Megan McMurchy
    signed 2021-09-14 17:37:52 +1000