FARMERS against the proposed Queensland-Hunter gas pipeline are set to gather in Quirindi on Saturday to voice their opinions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fed up with a lack of information regarding the project concerned stakeholders will take to the Quirindi RSL to make their voices heard.
First announced in 2008, the proposed project would carry gas from Santos' Narrabri gasfield to near Newcastle.
Read More:
Breeza farmer Peter Wills, whose family property sits in the path of the proposed pipeline, said concern around the project had increased since the Prime Minister and NSW Premier announced a new energy deal which included the request that NSW find 70 petajoules of gas.
"This pipeline has been directly linked to the proposed Santos Narrabri CSG project that farmers in North West NSW have fought tooth and nail against for nine years," Mr Wills said.
"Coal seam gas puts precious groundwater at risk and to see the NSW Government resuscitating this gas pipeline when farmers are at their wits end with the threat of CSG is very depressing."
The pipeline project was due to expire in February last year, because no work had been conducted since it was first announced.
However the NSW Government extended the approval for the pipeline for an additional five years.
Mullaley farmer Margaret Fleck said she was strongly against the project.
"At a time when many farmers in the north west are still battling unprecedented drought, the last thing we need is the threat of this pipeline and Santos' destructive Narrabri gas project," Ms Fleck said.
"This sorry saga has already been going on for so long, yet the state government has not kept landholders in the loop.
"Land ownership has changed hands since the pipeline was first approved in February 2009.
"As there were no easement agreements established, title searches do not reveal farmers could be impacted by a high-pressure gas pipeline.
"Some landholders have unknowingly built houses in the path of the pipeline, and there are other landowners that would not have purchased if they knew the property they bought could have a high pressure pipeline running through it."
The meeting will begin from 2pm on Saturday.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
