TURNING the pit voids of the Upper Hunter into lakes for water supply, irrigation and recreation is superficially attractive, ("Coal mine to man-made lakes", Newcastle Herald 23/4). Most of the coal mining companies that dug the voids are no longer in existence. Any site rehabilitation money that they may have set aside is bound to be inadequate. So, the locals will have to pay up for any rehabilitation.
Assuming a decent quantity of coal has been dug out, the only way to fill in the voids with rock and soil is to source this material from quarries in local hills. On the other hand, left alone, the pit voids will naturally fill with water to form lakes. All that is required is to shape the lake shoreline. Then the housing estate developers can put in a few roads, the required services, subdivide the land and sell it off as lakeside blocks.
