THE final opportunity for community to influence the approval process for the Cobbora Coal Project will likely mine deep emotion and disquiet.
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Environmentalists and business people will be among 41 registered speakers at a meeting in Dunedoo on Tuesday.
The independent NSW Planning Assessment Commission has called the public meeting to gather feedback on the project's assessment report prepared by the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
The document recommends approval of the proposed mine, subject to conditions.
Commissioners Paul Forward and David Johnson will review the feedback from the meeting, previously-lodged submissions and the assessment report before approving or refusing development approval.
The state government wants to sell or lease the project inherited from its predecessor and dubbed "the dud deal of the century" because of contracts to sell large volumes of cheap coal to power stations.
Expert advice that it would cost taxpayers $1.5 billion to take the project to production, persuaded the current government not to become a miner.
The contracts were terminated as state-owned Cobbora Holding Company continued to pursue development approval for the proposed mine announced with fanfare by former NSW Minister for Mineral Resources Ian McDonald in 2009.
By that time farming properties had been purchased and communities encouraged to believe that the project would bring jobs and prosperity.
Most affected by the delay in the launch of the mine is Dunedoo and district, part of the Warrumbungle Shire.
The shire council claims 32,500 hectares of land has been lost to agriculture, having previously generated $24 million annual revenue and supported 400 direct and indirect jobs in the region.
About "70 households and 90 people" left the district that has suffered economically and socially.
Dunedoo is one of the communities hoping for a boost from the $20 million Restart NSW Cobbora Transition Fund, set up by the government in support of the affected local government areas of Warrumbungle, Dubbo, Wellington and Mid-Western.
Each of the four councils will get $1 million, with the remaining $16 million up for grabs for infrastructure projects.
A short-list of submitted expressions of interest is currently has been constructed.
The meeting in Dunedoo's Jubilee Hall on Tuesday will begin at 9.30am.
Individuals have been allocated five minutes to speak and representatives of groups 15 minutes.
The assessment report and recommended conditions can be found at www.pac.nsw.gov.au.
