The Australian Center for Corporate Social Responsibility said that a long-term commitment will be needed to improve the industry's relationship with the community in Upper Hunter Valley.
93 stakeholder groups participated in the survey conducted by the organization. Participants in the Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue have received a research report examining opinions about the cumulative impacts of local mines.
The New South Wales Minerals Council said that it was surprised that the coal industry in Hunter Valley had rated so poorly in an independent community survey. Minerals Council Deputy Chief Executive, Sue-Ern Tan said that overall the results do show that there is a lack of trust toward the mining industry as a whole and giving them below average scores on a range of questions about things like reputation, relationship quality and social capital.
Ms Tan said that the three working groups which needed focus were clearly around dust, air quality, water, issues around rehabilitation and then what is happening with social infrastructure and the social issues in the towns themselves.
New South Wales Minerals Council chief executive Nikki Williams said that the survey findings would challenge the industry. Dr Williams said that while individual companies are managing environmental impacts and working with their local communities, the feedback from this survey shows that they had much more to do.