Two simultaneous NSW rallies are being held to protest the expansion of a coal mine that locals say will be the death knell for a small Hunter region community.
More than 100 people are expected to protest in Sydney's Martin Place and Mudgee on Tuesday morning against the Wilpinjong coal mine complex, which wants to mine within 1.5km of the town of Wollar.
Protestors have gathered outside planning minister NSW Rob Stokes' office in Martin Place and the Mudgee Town Hall, where the Planning and Assessment Commission is hosting a public meeting.
Locals say over the past 10 years there's been a mass exodus of up to 90 per cent of residents since the mine was built.
Long-time Wollar resident Beverley Smiles says the community is a shadow of what it once was.
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"It's been heart-wrenching," she told AAP on Tuesady. "We originally had a community of between 300-400 people 10 years ago, now we're down to about 30."
The mine is owned by the Australian subsidiary of bankrupt American coal company Peabody Energy and locals say the mine in its current form has 10 more years' approval.
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment stated in its recent assessment report, now before the Commission, that approving the project would spell extinction for Wollar.
"We're saying, stick with the current approval ... so it (won't) kill our community entirely," Ms Smiles said.
The majority of residents, she said, had vacated the town due to a combination of Peabody buying up large tracts of land for the mine and the noise and dust pollution.
"We were a very close-knit community and a lot of people didn't want to leave but they couldn't sleep at night and having coal dust all over your house is not very pleasant," Ms Smiles said.
