NSW planning body gives green light to Hunter Valley coalmine expansion

In the lead-up to a byelection, residents express outrage about decision, saying, It's not an expansion, it's a whole new pit'

A coalmine in the Upper Hunter Valley has been given approval to expand by the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission.

Mangoola Coal Operations, a subsidiary of Glencore Coal, applied to extract an additional 52m tonnes of coal over eight years at the Mangoola mine near Muswellbrook.