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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

  • Andrew Delbridge
    signed 2021-09-16 17:09:53 +1000
  • Elizabeth Ceemonese
    signed 2021-09-16 17:09:42 +1000
  • Anthony Stuart
    signed 2021-09-16 17:01:54 +1000
  • Gail Podberscek
    signed 2021-09-16 16:59:43 +1000
  • mark Brown
    signed 2021-09-16 16:57:31 +1000
    There is so much more to Bylong than a dying resource industry – we need farming land for farming.
  • Andrew Lenart
    signed 2021-09-16 16:52:01 +1000
  • Jennifer Medway
    signed 2021-09-16 16:41:22 +1000
  • Robert Charlton
    signed 2021-09-16 16:26:00 +1000
  • Marianne Veraar Brockmann
    signed 2021-09-16 16:19:50 +1000
    Please do the right thing Kepco
  • Mike and Sue Pridmore
    signed 2021-09-16 16:19:39 +1000
    We ask you earnestly, to enable the properties in Bylong Valley acquired by the Company, to be returned to the original status of agriculture and the community of Bylong given back their health and livelihood. Every bit of pastoral land is increasing in importance as our climate changes and food and water and the welfare of all living things, become imperilled. We are confident that the right decision has been made by the powers that be, and that you yourselves will look back on these years and grow to accept that there really are alternatives to extracting more coal.
  • Louise Broomfield
    signed 2021-09-16 16:00:49 +1000
  • Amanda McInerney
    signed 2021-09-16 15:59:28 +1000
  • Bronwyn Rees
    signed 2021-09-16 15:58:41 +1000
  • Dennis Nassau
    signed 2021-09-16 15:25:11 +1000
  • Andrew Macintyre
    signed 2021-09-16 15:09:27 +1000
  • Anthony Lunken
    signed 2021-09-16 15:03:01 +1000
    More land for regenerative farming please
  • Wendy Bellamy
    signed 2021-09-16 15:01:33 +1000
    I dream of a day when the filthy rich are keen to become the clean rich!
  • Anna Gibbs
    signed 2021-09-16 14:59:04 +1000
  • Gregory Waterhouse
    signed 2021-09-16 14:56:25 +1000
  • Marinella Duval
    signed 2021-09-16 14:55:33 +1000
  • Ilona Roberts
    signed 2021-09-16 14:54:34 +1000
    like they say, can’t eat oil, can’t drink gas. Congratulations.
  • Meghann Smith
    signed 2021-09-16 14:53:51 +1000
  • Brian Hirst
    signed 2021-09-16 14:48:34 +1000
  • Judith Seaburn
    signed 2021-09-16 14:44:33 +1000
  • Lynette Latimer
    signed 2021-09-16 14:34:55 +1000
    Do the right thing Kepco.
  • Grahame Saunders
    signed 2021-09-16 14:26:06 +1000
  • Rob Eastley
    signed 2021-09-16 14:10:47 +1000
  • Caro Heaton
    signed 2021-09-16 14:04:53 +1000
  • Ruth Stewart
    signed 2021-09-16 13:57:33 +1000
  • Kate Beveridge
    signed 2021-09-16 13:54:48 +1000