The red dots represent coal drilling sites proposed by Moolarben Coal, part of the Yancoal Australia group, under exploration licence 6288.

Four are within 100metres of the national park boundary. One is in a creek line. Others are in parts of the 872-hectare property described by the Imries as ‘‘inaccessible by 4WD vehicles’’.

Moolarben wants access to the property.

The Imries feel ‘‘abandoned’’ in a process that leaves them arguing about the environment, water resources and a national park against a coal company ultimately owned by a Chinese provincial government.

‘‘We’re like the last man standing from the point of view of them taking over the land for mining,’’ said Julia Imrie.

‘‘We’re the only ones left within the exploration licence.

‘‘We do feel a bit abandoned because we’re trying to protect the integrity of the area and we’re on our own, legally and financially.’’

The postcard-sized map shows another two red dots, in addition to the 16 on the Imries’ property.

These appear on land controversially converted from Crown land to freehold title by the NSW Labor government in November 2010, which outraged community groups and environmentalists in 2012 when it was discovered.

The conversion – described by Moolarben Coal as ‘‘part of the NSW government reform process’’ – allowed Moolarben to ‘‘acquire’’ the iconic Upper Hunter gorge known as The Drip, at the head of the Goulburn River, which is the Hunter River’s main western tributary.

The two red dots appear on land north of The Drip, and within a 500-metre exclusion zone established under Moolarben Coal’s stage one mine approval in 2007, in recognition of the gorge’s environmental significance.

In its first letter to the Imries on March 20, 2013, Moolarben sought access across the Imries’ property so that vehicles and equipment could reach those two drill sites in The Drip exclusion zone.

Moolarben wanted to ‘‘drill coal quality drill holes’’, the letter said.

At the same time, and in response to public protests about the undisclosed government process that allowed a coalmining company to ‘‘acquire’’ a sensitive environmental site, Moolarben made a carefully worded public statement.

‘‘Planning documents currently on public exhibition make clear there is no mining activity planned for The Drip,’’ Moolarben said.

In a statement this week, Moolarben said the exclusion zone prohibited underground mining within 500metres of The Drip, but did ‘‘not preclude exploration of the type proposed’’.

The exploration ‘‘may be used to inform (a) future mining proposal’’, Moolarben said.

Julia and Colin Imrie have spent $12,000 on legal fees so far since the first letter from Moolarben.

They have needed a solicitor experienced in mine exploration processes to understand the material they encountered over the past 11 months, and their position once Moolarben acted on EL (exploration licence) 6288 over their property.

The material has included a 20-page ‘‘exploration licence conditions’’ document identifying special requirements because of the sensitivity of the area.

Two weeks ago, the Imries were advised to ‘‘urgently’’ provide a submission for an arbitration hearing set down for this month.

The arbitrator denied their request to be represented by Ian Coleman, SC, and a solicitor at the hearing, after Moolarben objected.

Moolarben also refused a request from the Imries that it record the hearing and provide them with a transcript.

The Imries objected to the first appointed arbitrator on conflict of interest grounds. The arbitrator withdrew. They objected to a second arbitrator with ‘‘45 years in the resource sector’’, who did not withdraw.

In a letter to Department of Trade and Investment director-general Mark Paterson in October, the Imries objected to the arbitration hearing because Moolarben had not submitted a Review of Environmental Factors required because of the sensitivity of the area.

They will repeat the submission at the arbitration hearing.

Mr Coleman said mining companies paid royalties to the state, generated jobs and, with farming communities battling drought, it was mines and not farmers keeping local economies alive.

‘‘The issue is not about mining, but about the plainer issue of justice,’’ he said.

‘‘The system, as it stands, is so overwhelmingly slanted against the landowner. In my 40 years as a barrister, I can say that most people can accept a disappointing result if it was reached by a fair process. What we have now is not a fair process.’’ 

O’Farrell under pressure to respond on land ‘gift’ 

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has not commented on Julia and Colin Imrie’s offer to ‘‘gift’’ part of their property to the state if Moolarben Coal gives up its controversial ownership of The Drip gorge.

In a letter on February 4, Mr O’Farrell ‘‘noted the issues which have prompted you to write’’, but referred the matter to Environment Minister Robyn Parker.

The Imries propose giving a section of their property to the state to add to Goulburn River National Park if Moolarben Coal offers land above The Drip gorge for similar inclusion in the park.

The land was controversially ‘‘acquired’’ by Moolarben in November 2010 after the NSW Labor government converted it from Crown land to freehold title without public consultation.

In a speech to NSW Parliament in April 2012, when the Moolarben ownership was discovered, Nationals MP for Orange Andrew Gee said The Drip had been ‘‘sold by the former discredited and discarded NSW government’’.

‘‘Under that sale this sandstone wall is now in the ownership of the foreign-owned Moolarben coalmine while the water that drips from the great dripping wall falls into the river below, which is a Crown waterway,’’ Mr Gee said.

The sale meant Moolarben Coal owned land on both sides of Goulburn River at The Drip, he said.

In an email on January 23, Upper Hunter MP George Souris wished the Imries ‘‘best wishes for a successful outcome’’.

Nature Conservation Council chief executive Pepe Clarke called on Mr O’Farrell to respond, and accused successive NSW governments of ‘‘effectively alienating public land for mining companies and gas companies’’.

‘‘Until it was transferred to the mining company a few years ago, The Drip was public land,’’ he said.

Mining in the area was of particular concern because the Goulburn River was the Hunter River’s main western tributary.