The site was sold by the Catholic Diocese in 2008 and changed hands a number of times before being bought by KEPCO.

The company is currently working through the process of identifying and working with descendants of those buried with plans to relocate grave sites. Craig Shaw of the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance said he believes the existence of the agreement could play a part in the process.

“The covenant requires the graves to be maintained,” he said.

“In the context of this development application, the mine is a state significant project, so as part of approval it is possible for the covenant to be over ridden.

“But there are a couple of things; they have to get approval, and if they do it depends very much on what the conditions are that are placed on that approval.”

KEPCO Australia chief operating officer Bill Vatovec said that the company is carrying out its obligations under the document and will be able to proceed if approval is given.

“KEPCO confirms the existence of a Deed Poll which contains a number of obligations relating to the maintenance and access to the cemetery for representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, direct descendants of those buried there and persons undertaking legitimate historical research,” he said.

“KEPCO has and will continue to satisfy the maintenance and access obligations regarding the cemetery.

“If development consent is granted in relation to the project, subject to other relevant approvals KEPCO will be able to proceed under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and Local Environment Plan with the proposed development.”

Mr Vatovec added that this part of the project is in the consultation phase.

“The project has been consulting directly with the descendants and will continue to do so throughout the assessment of the Development Application for the project,” he said.

However, Mr Shaw said he thinks there are options available.

“It’s totally open to the government to decide things like ‘yes, you can have a mining licence but you cannot touch the church and graves’,” he said.

“Or they can do what I understand happened in Cadia [gold mine in Orange] where they were essentially picked up the cemetery and moved it.”

KEPCO has commissioned an expert to investigate and assess the heritage of the burials within the grounds of the former church and to gather information regarding the identity of any unmarked burials and the names of relatives and descendants of the deceased.

The Bylong coal mine proposes to supply up to 6.5 million tonnes of thermal coal per annum to export for approximately 25 years, with open-cut operations commencing first and lasting approximately eight years, and underground mining commencing thereafter.

It’s likely to employ up to 800 people during construction and an average of 275 people during operations.