“This is my home”

Wendy BOWMAN

Farmer, widow and grandmother Wendy Bowman has taken on and beaten some of the world’s biggest coal mining companies, and this feisty octogenarian isn’t finished yet.

Wendy doesn’t look like the popular cliche of an eco-activist. No dreadlocks, army boots or tie-dyed T-shirts here. Knock on the door to her property, Rosedale, in the NSW Hunter Valley and you’ll likely be greeted by a polite, elderly woman in neatly pressed slacks and a floral print top under a beige cardigan. But don’t let appearances deceive you. Wendy is widely regarded as one of the toughest and most resilient environmental warriors in the world.

Wendy, 85, has fought doggedly against some of the world’s biggest coal mining corporations which have sought to usurp and excavate huge tracts of prime agricultural land in the Hunter. She has battled mines on her own land and through a community group (Minewatch) she established to help other farmers.

“This is my home,” says Wendy, whose husband, Mick, died unexpectedly in 1984. “I’ve been a part of this valley since I married a farmer and moved here in 1957. It’s in my blood and I don’t want to see it destroyed. I won’t let them have it, not as long as I am alive. Not ever if I can help it.”

In 2010, Yancoal wanted to extend an existing open-cut mine and Wendy’s property sat slap bang in the middle of the proposed extension. She refused to give them access and refused to sell. After a five-year legal battle, the NSW Court of Appeal gave its final verdict: that the mine’s expansion could go ahead – but only if Yancoal bought all the land in the proposed extension. And, says Wendy, “that decision put me in the driver’s seat. It all depended on what I decided to do. Yes, the mine could go ahead, but – and that but was me.”

The Yancoal mine was stopped in its tracks and Wendy awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards, which recognises individuals taking extraordinary actions to win victories against the odds.

Wendy still tends crops and cattle on Rosedale. “I’m not as active as I used to be,” she admits. “I know I won’t be around for too many more years. But my three daughters all understand how I feel and what I want, and I want the farm to stay.” Michael Sheather