Shenhua Watermark coal mine: Liverpool Plains agriculture set for boom after Shenhua 'distraction' gone, believes Fiona Simson

The 13-year battle over the mining project was a huge distraction from developing the local agriculture sector and deterred local farmers from investing, she said.

The threat of the project even left financial institutions less willing to lend into the region, despite its enormous agricultural potential.

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"I think [government has] been totally distracted, particularly if you look at some of the opportunities in front of ag right now," she said.

"We're really a food and fibre powerhouse in the region. It's just a matter of how we create more value for the producers and the supply chains and more opportunity for businesses in the regions, which we can do.

'To be honest, if we'd focused on that instead of half a billion dollars that the government had to use to pay back BHP and Shenhua out of these licences, if they'd spent that money initially 20 years ago on developing our region then our region would be beyond compare."

She said government had already made steps towards recovering the lost ground, pointing to the Namoi Jobs Precinct as an example of "gold standard planning".

Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced on Wednesday the state had paid $100 million to the giant Chinese resources corporation to buy back its exploration licence for the Breeza mine. The state government will use environmental regulation to completely prohibit coal and gas mining on the site forever, according to planning minister Rob Stokes.

Liverpool Plains farmer Tim Duddy, whose property was covered by the Shenhua exploration licence and an earlier BHP mine, said with mining no longer an option local agricultural land will become "a whole lot more attractive" to purchase.

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The former councillor said the "local government machine" had "totally turned on the farming sector and considered that mining was the only way of the future", a "one-eyed view" that would cause economic chaos.

"The writing is on the wall. China pulled out of a project because they do not believe that coal has a future. That doesn't mean that all the coal mines are going to shut in two years. But in fifteen years, 90 per cent of them will be shut. What we have is an opportunity now to go righto what are we going to do? If we actually sit there and wait until year 14 and go oh my god all these mines are closing tomorrow then we really are in a bad situation.

"If we don't plan our own destiny properly these rural communities will take a century to recover."

Gunnedah business owner Michael Broekman said most local employers weren't overly suprised to see the mining project fail, and the local economy would remain strong.

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He said government should explain why the $100 million buy-out was worth the money.

"To spend money, the $100 million, that $100 million could have built a couple of hospitals or a couple of schools, or done another major piece of infrastructure somewhere, to spend that money to give back to Shenhua to say well she's all over I think for the taxpayers of NSW that's something to be concerned about," he said.

The state will not have to pay a cent to quash gas exploration licences that cover the same area, according to Mr Barilaro.

"The reality is this $100m payment - and remember we've received payments from Shenhua over that time - is really a reimbursement of some level. It's a deal worth every cent," he said on Wednesday.

Shenhua bought the land of 38 farmers covering the mine area. Most of the land the project covered will be sold and returned to agriculture, she said.

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