Related: Coal mine takes over tarwyn Park

LANDHOLDERS are calling for an urgent injunction from the state government to protect the renowned Tarwyn Park property in the Bylong Valley.



They’re worried decades of land management research and practice will be lost when Korean coal developer KEPCO takes control of the lease on August 1.

Current leaseholder Stuart Andrews is set to walk away from the property, where he ran training courses in the family’s Natural Sequence Farming techniques. The family sold to KEPCO in 2014, and leased back Tarwyn Park and the neighbouring property Iron Tank.

Natural Sequence Farming looked as if it may have been maintained on Tarwyn Park when KEPCO took over the lease, with help from Newcastle University's environmental research centre - the Tom Farrell Institute.

But according to Bylong Valley Protection Alliance, headed by landholder Craig Shaw, the institute withdrew its support, leaving an open question about the future of Natural Sequence Farming.

Mr Shaw wrote to Environment Minister Mark Speakman this week requesting an interim heritage order for Tarwyn Park and Iron Tank.

“Natural Sequence Farming is one of the only systems that has been rigorously demonstrated to restore degraded landscapes and improve soil fertility and carbon content,” he said.

The heritage order would ensure the property is maintained in its current state.

“The property represents 40 years of learning in Natural Sequence Farming. Given what’s been achieved there it’s far more important to the nation than any single coal mine could ever be,”Mr Shaw said.

A KEPCO spokesman said the Andrews family understood the company’s plans when Tarwyn Park was bought.

“The Andrews family were fully informed of the company’s plans and were shown mining plans that detailed the impact of mining and surface infrastructure on the property,” the spokesman said.

“A Historic Heritage Management Plan and Conservation Management Plan will be prepared to guide the management of the Tarwyn Park complex.”

KEPCO, which began exploration in 2010, is in the midst of a State Significant Development Application to dig a large export coal mine impacting on the Andrews’ family properties.

Stuart’s father Peter Andrews, who no longer lives Tarwyn Park, pioneered the innovative Natural Sequence Farming land management system, which centres on restoration of natural water flows. It does not require intensive management but Mr Shaw fears that landscape features such as leaky weirs will not be properly maintained when KEPCO take over.

Tarwyn Park was among Australia’s premier Thoroughbred studs in the first half of the 20th Century.

Tarwyn Park will host an open to showcase Natural Sequence Farming on Sunday July 31, the last day of the lease. Click here for more details.

