Community & Business
18 May, 2026
No rail loop, no worries
After cancelling the rail spur and new load out facility at Acland, New Acland Coal has invested some of the money saved back into Jondaryan by funding a multipurpose facility.
New Acland Coal (NAC) had successfully argued to Queensland’s Coordinator General that the construction of a $62 million rail loop from the Jondaryan Rail Loadout Facility (JRLF) to Acland was no longer necessary.
The Coordinator General ruled the rail loop, costed to that figure in the early 2010s, no longer made sense to build as the mine was only going to last for another 8-10 years and the rail line had limited re-use potential.
Along with complying with coal dust monitoring tests at the JRLF, NAC also said it would invest some of the money saved back into Jondaryan through legacy projects such as a Lagoon Creek nature precinct and into Council facilities like the Jondaryan Woolshed.
A Jondaryan Community Needs Assessment also identified a need for a shared multi-purpose space in the town to foster civic pride.
NAC has started abiding by its end of the rail loop deal by chipping in $1million for the multi-purpose facility.
That announcement was celebrated at Jondaryan State School last week.
The multipurpose facility will be built around a shaded sports court funded by the Queensland Government through its Go For Gold 2032 Olympics grant program, which is set to open at the end of this month.
In addition to its regular use at Jondaryan State School, the new multipurpose facility will be available to the broader Jondaryan community for events, training, youth engagement initiatives and social activities.
Jondaryan State School Principal Carly Domrow said the soon-to-be opened sports court would increase athletic opportunities for students, and potentially enable local sporting clubs to be formed down the track.
“It is exciting to think that, in the years ahead, we may see our students achieving their potential and representing our state and perhaps even our nation across a range of sports,” she said.
“We now are continuing to develop this facility with the support of New Acland Coal through its Community Investment Fund.”
Jondaryan State School Captain, Logan Mirtschin said the court will mean more students will have a place to exercise and increase their sporting abilities across a range of sports.
“Indoor soccer, basketball, netball, pickleball maybe tennis” he said.
New Acland Coal General Manager, Dave O’Dwyer said the $1 million contribution is the first for the re-vamped New Acland Coal Community Investment Fund.
“New Acland Coal has a long and proud history of supporting and financially backing the local community via strong investment in the towns surrounding New Acland Mine,” Mr O’Dwyer said.
“Sponsoring and supporting local community groups, sporting teams, charities, and schools, like Jondaryan State School, allows New Acland Coal to build stronger and more sustainable communities surrounding our operation.
“(This facility) gives the community somewhere to come to as well, so those community organisations or groups that tend to move out or have to find other areas to do their activities in can come into the school.”
In other mine news, Mr O’Dwyer said the New Acland Coal workforce was now over 350 strong.
“The operation’s going really well,” he said.
“We’re on track to hit our target’s this year, the workforce is coming together well and new equipment is coming.
Mr O’Dwyer said construction has begun on the realignment of the Jondaryan Muldu Road which is being undertaken by Durack Civil.
“Anyone that drives up is going to be able to see the Durack team doing that work, and they’re doing a fabulous job getting that road in, so that’s on track to be completed on time,” he said.
“We want to be over there and starting to do our mining side of things in November of this year, so the Durack team’s working to that timeline.”
