New Acland Mine now at the mercy of the state government

The Land Court of Queensland conditionally approved the expansion in December, subject to conditions, but the project still requires a water licence for groundwater take and a mining lease.

It is unclear when the government will make its decision.

The mine has been in caretaker mode since November when stage two coal reserves were depleted.

The company has made more than 300 workers redundant in the past two years as it scaled back operations, with just 20 employees remaining at the site.

New Acland Mine general manager Dave O'Dwyer said the team at New Hope remained committed to stage three despite the challenges of the past few years.

"The last couple of years have been, to put a few words to it, frustrating; sad," Mr O'Dwyer said.

"Over the past two years, we've let over 300 people go from here and that's just our employees.

"The contractors ... have lost their jobs, their livelihoods [and] moved on from the district, so it has been a difficult time."

Mr O'Dwyer said the approval would provide jobs for more people.

"... It would be great to get approvals and see those people get the opportunity to come back."

Oakey farmer Peter Kuhl said he wanted to see stage three go ahead and people return to the community.

"I'd just like to start to see the mine go ahead," Mr Kuhl said in a public statement.

"There's a big hole there at the moment. It's not being utilised.

"There's lots of people that can be employed there and I just want to see the money come back into the local economy."

Local farmer Mal Krautz said most people were supportive of the mine.

"As a local, I believe that the majority of the people are behind that mine and I think that the majority of the people will be grateful for it," Mr Krautz said in a statement.

"There will be a small margin who won't be, but I believe that by far the majority will be very happy for it to go ahead."

Contrary to their view, Brymaroo grazier Frank Ashman has been fighting the mine for more than 10 years and will continue to do so.

"I've fought this coal mine like a rabid dog for more than a decade. I'm not going to stop now," Mr Ashman said.

"New Acland's rehabilitation work at other parts of its mine site has utterly failed to return the land to the productive state it was in before it was mined for coal. You couldn't even run half a herd of goats on it now."

Nearby dairy farmer David Vonhoff is concerned about the impact stage three could have on groundwater.

Mr Vonhoff, who uses bores and dams to irrigate his pasture and crops, said mining activities could result in the drainage of the water table.

"We're really concerned about stage three, because stage one was a certain depth, stage two was deeper, and stage three is going to be even deeper," Mr Vonhoff said.

On March 15, farmers and conservation groups descended on 1 William Street in Brisbane to deliver more than 1000 postcards from Queenslanders calling on the government not to approve the water licence.

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