Just a month after winning an election, NSW Premier Mike Baird is being pulled in different directions by powerful interests in the Hunter Valley.
Mr Baird toured the region on Tuesday in a bid to deal with growing tensions between mining companies and horse breeders in the area.
Mining company Anglo American's initial proposal for the Drayton South mine project was rejected by the Planning and Assessment Commission six months ago and it plans to resubmit the application in the coming months.
The new proposal includes a 25 per cent smaller footprint for the mine and it would be moved behind a ridge so it cannot be seen or heard.
But horse breeders are not convinced.
They say the government should take account of PAC's recommendation that international horse breeding and open cut coal mining are incompatible.
Even though this new mining proposal is said to be smaller, Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association president Cameron Collins says it is still within 900 metres of the boundary fence of horse studs.
"That's unacceptably close," he said.
The Coolmore and Darley studs are campaigning for the government to legislate a 10-kilometre exclusion zone around their properties.
Mr Collins said he was heartened by Mr Baird's visit because it gives them certainty that he is aware of the proximity issues.
But there is also a third group affected by these arguments - residents in the town of Bulga.
The Bulga community has rejected suggestions from a PAC report that their homes be relocated to make way for an extension to Rio Tinto's Mount Thorley Warkworth Mine.
Mr Baird and Planning Minister Rob Stokes visited Bulga, as well as both mines and Darley's Woodlands Stud on Tuesday to try to get a sense of the situation.
"What we heard was co-existence is very important and that's all that is being asked for here, and we understand that," Mr Baird said.
"That's obviously what we are looking at in terms of the overall decision framework ... that provides the best outcomes for the community, environment and the economy in the long-term."
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