Baird can save NSW food bowl: Greens

The Baird government should give back the $300m that Shenhua has paid for a mining licence in NSW, says Greens NSW.

The government's approval of the Shenhua coal mine will stand despite Barnaby Joyce's opposition. (AAP) Source: AAP

The Baird government has been urged to hand back $300 million to Shenhua in exchange for the Chinese company shelving its plans for a controversial NSW mine.

Greens NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham says the NSW government should hand back the money following the backlash against the $1 billion open-cut coal mine in the NSW Liverpool Plains.

There's been a furore from local farmers, anti-mining groups - and even federal Agricultural Minister Barnaby Joyce - since the Abbott government granted the mine's conditional approval.

Mr Buckingham said if Shenhua is paid back the $300 million exploration licence fee and sells the $200 million-plus worth of farm land it has bought, it should recover up to $500 million of the $700 million it has spent.

"It's time someone in power put the national interest first and protected the best agricultural land in Australia," Mr Buckingham said in a statement.

Mr Joyce said he has written to Mr Baird about the project near Gunnedah, which must be given final approval by the NSW government.

The approval of a mining lease, which Shenhua needs, is a relative formality and legally cannot be refused except in very exceptional circumstances.

Comment has been sought from Shenhua.