‘These are sacred places’: farmers say they will work with traditional owners after NSW land saved from coalmine

Farmers have committed to working with traditional owners after land in New South Wales' Liverpool Plains previously acquired for a Chinese state-owned coalmine was bought back by local farming families.

Dolly Talbott, a representative of the Gomeroi traditional custodians, said traditional owners were still seeking assurances that their sacred places were safe and accessible to Indigenous people.

Talbott said there was never any consultation with traditional owners to ensure Gomeroi people's access to sacred sites, which include ceremonial areas, large grinding groove sites, scarred trees, burial sites and artefacts.

"We've still got to resort back to jumping fences if we want to visit these sites or rely on the good faith farmers will allow us to do that. And even if the farmers of today allow us to do that, what about the next generation?"

Her comments come after the portfolio of land in north-west NSW once earmarked for a coalmine has been sold in separate properties carved up between 12 local farming families plus one corporate institution in a deal valued at $120m.

"I hope there are farmers who are going to stand up and say something about this land being protected. I call on Fiona Simson [the president of the National Farmers Federation] to call for these places to be protected," Talbott said.

Simson, a farmer in the Liverpool Plains area, said the community had always supported the Gomeroi in their quest to retain access to country and would continue to do so.