As part of its community engagement process, Hume Coal hosted six community information sessions across the shire to inform the public of its mine plans and provide space for community concerns to be raised and answered.

Hume Coal had water, acoustic and air quality experts on hand to answer questions and models on display to demonstrate the mine process.

The main issues raised by community members were dust impacts, water contamination and damage to groundwater, noise and tourism impacts.

However, specific concerns were also raised for each village. At Robertson, the main worry was Hume's need to use of the railway line which cuts through the town and could lead to increased traffic for Robertson residents.

In Berrima, residents were concerned the impacts the mine would have on the character of the Georgian village and tourism.

Emotions continued to run high for residents at every session with a common response to the mining proposal being that residents didn't want the mine in the Highlands.

However, the last information presentation at Moss Vale Services Club attracted the biggest turn out with some 300 people in attendance including rock singer-songwriter Jimmy Barnes and five councillors. It was in this meeting that the order came undone with residents engaging in yelling and walking out in frustration.

Councillor Larry Whipper asked members of the public to raise their hands to show support for the coal mine, and less than a handful of members of public raised their hands, but when asked who was not in support of the mine, hundreds of hands were raised.

Southern Highlands Coal Action Group (SHCAG) co-ordinator Tim Frost attended each information session and said the timing "unfortunately prohibited" parents with children or farm workers and tradesmen to attend. Each meeting was held in the early afternoon from 4pm, and 3pm on one occasion, throughout the week.

Mr Frost said while there were useful models on display during the meetings, the management of the question and answer time was "poor".

"Even this limited question and answer period was cut short which led to a general uproar and three of the meetings being shut down with many questions still unanswered," he said.

"What Hume Coal certainly did accomplish was to provide a fertile recruiting ground for those in the community opposed to the proposed coal mine as before these public briefings Hume Coal was only meeting significant resistance from SHCAG, but after these meetings new groups have formed spontaneously and resistance to the proposed mine has stepped up markedly."

An example of this is formation of the Battle for Berrima Group and the Robertson Rail Resistance Group. However, Hume Coal's project director Greig Duncan said the information sessions provided Hume Coal with a "better understanding" of the areas which were of most interest to the community.

"This is the beginning of the process and we will continue to work with the local community to understand their priorities and keep them informed as the project progresses," Mr Duncan said.