Liverpool Plains, Hunter Valley landholders, MPs talk pipeline and gas fields

"It's something we're not looking forward to and it's something we're not real comfortable with," Manuka's David Wallis told the Leader.

"We don't want it here, but we don't want to pass it on to other farmers, we don't want the damn thing here altogether."

Landholders, including former New England MP Tony Windsor, gathered at the property on Thursday for a roundtable with visiting independent federal MPs Kylea Tink, from North Sydney, and Dr Sophie Scamps, from Mackellar.

Mr Wallis and the company have spent 25 years nurturing Manuka's soils in the area known as the country's food bowl.

He's also studying a university course in regenerative farming, but fears it will all come undone if the soil is dug up to place the Hunter Gas Pipeline through the property, which lies on the approved corridor.

"The pipeline goes straight through Manuka, which is a bit of a nuisance, it does have an impact on our farming practices," he said.

"All of those that are in the pre-approved corridor, certainly, will have an effect on their production."

He said even when the nation moves to other energy sources and gas is no longer needed, landholders will be stuck with the effects.

"That pipeline is going to be under our farms for forever and a day," he said.

Mr Wallis's voice cracked with emotion as he spoke to the roundtable on Thursday.

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The pipeline, which is slated to carry gas for the domestic market from Queensland to Newcastle via the Narrabri Gas Project and the Liverpool Plains, could stretch up to 800km.

Mr Wallis asked how energy giant Santos, which owns the project, could guarantee there would be no issues.

He said the plan was to stop the pipeline going ahead altogether.

"There's a helluva lot of support from Narrabri right through to the bottom end of the Hunter Valley and it's gaining momentum," he said.

It was a sentiment shared by the Hunter Gas Landholder Rights Alliance's Meg Bowman, who travelled up from near Singleton.

"We're all united - this will not happen on our land," she said.

Several local farmers detailed the problems with the project - economically and environmentally - which has been going on for years.

Landholder Ian Carter said the Liverpool Plains was an agricultural gem.

"You can grow almost anything in this area, if we're talking about food security, why come and destroy it," he told the roundtable.

The residents were strongly opposed to the pipeline, and fear it is linked to seismic testing for coal seam gas exploration on the Liverpool Plains, which the state government approved late last year for Santos to carry out.

The roundtable was given examples of how residents had been working hard to make their voices heard over several years, and would continue to.

Ms Tink and Dr Scamps also engaged in extensive discussions with Liverpool Plains landholders on Wednesday night, and had flown over the gas wells in the Pilliga.

Ms Tink said it was not just passion and emotion she saw on the ground, it was intelligence and determination.

"These are informed people that have done a lot of research and have been working on this in some cases for over a decade now - Santos is just the latest," she said.

"This is not about 'not in my backyard', this is about people who have actually done the work and understand what the implications are here."

She said it was high time to push back on the idea that there wasn't enough gas, and that having seen the Narrabri Gas Project and the Liverpool Plains, the decisions don't "make sense" and aren't in "the best interests of our country".

Ms Tink argued that as a businesswoman herself, it seemed the Pilliga gas wells, seismic testing and the pipeline project had to be linked.

"I look at that with my business brain on and would make the argument that if they're not connected then [Santos is] wasting their time," she said.

She said corporations needed to be held to account to tell people "nothing but the complete truth".

Ms Tink and Dr Scamps said they believed the interests of their constituents and regional Australia were aligned, and would add their voices to the movement.

Landholders on the Liverpool Plains are also fighting against any idea of a new gas field there.

Liza Balmain travelled down from her property in Queensland, near Dalby, to detail to the roundtable her experience living near a gas field.

She said she had seen a huge impact.

"It's an ongoing battle, and I hope you never have to face that," she said.

A spokesperson for Santos said in January the seismic surveying was "low-impact" and "non-intrusive" and didn't affect groundwater or farming.

The spokesperson said the testing is not associated with the Hunter Gas Pipeline project and the company had "consulted extensively" with landholders and community members.

The Hunter Gas Pipeline's proposed underground route passes close to Santos' Narrabri Gas Project and would connect Queensland to Newcastle to deliver gas to the domestic market.

Santos was contacted for this story but did not respond.

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