Peabody Energy is now the dominant landholder in the Wollar district, owning not only the surrounding mining land but also many of the houses in the village itself.

Over time, the impacts of large-scale open-cut mining—such as noise, dust, and odour—have pushed many residents to sell their properties and leave the area. This steady loss of people has dramatically reduced Wollar’s population and contributed to the closure of local services such as the school and general store.

With little investment in basic housing maintenance, many of the houses in Wollar Village have been left vacant or demolished at a time when there is a critical shortage of housing in the Mudgee region. Maintaining existing homes or building new ones on the vacant blocks could help provide rental accommodation, support the long-term future of the community, and ease the current regional housing pressure.

Despite this, Peabody recently applied for and received approval to build a temporary workers’ camp at its Wilpinjong mine. Out of 40 public submissions on the proposal, 38 were objections. Concerns centred on the short-term nature of temporary housing, the ongoing hollowing-out of Wollar Village, and the failure to make use of existing land and housing stock for permanent accommodation.