whats going to happen to the northern buller?

I just thought is start a new thread about this partly because there's not much going on thats really exciting at the moment and partly because I was just curious if anyone else from the area posts on this forum.
But here's a story.
A friend of mine who visited home a while ago said that the local primary school was almost shut down due to a lack of students, this made me realise a whole new aspect of how importaint this mine is to the area.
A scenareo.
The mine doesn't go ahead, the local people are forced to go elsewhere to find work (let's face it, there's only so many jobs in Stockton and westport) taking their children with them which would inevitably force the school to close due to lack of students. This would then force the other residents to relocate so their kids can attend school, what then happens to the northern Buller area?
There would be a mass exodus from the area which would be devastating.
I wonder if the people opposed to the mine have taken this into consideration, perhaps looked at the smaller picture and the real people that will have to live with the outcomes of this decision
When I attended granity school there was 150 students from 5 to 12 years old, in recent times there has been as few as 75 no jobs no locals.

Just a rant but I think its worth a thought.