More than 60 landholders attended last Saturday's community event organised by Hunter Gas Landholder Rights Alliance (HGLRA) to oppose the Hunter Gas Pipeline.
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The event was held at Elderslie Hall near Singleton and attended by mostly local landholders, with visiting concerned farmers from the Liverpool Plains, who are also impacted if these gas projects are allowed to proceed.
If built, the 413 kilometre pipeline would carve through hundreds of kilometres of agricultural and conservation land between the Narrabri gas project and Newcastle in NSW's Hunter region.
Keynote speakers at the community forum were Bruce Robertson, an Australasian expert gas analyst, an active participant in the national debate on energy issues and he also has a farm at Burrell Creek near Wingham and David Chadwick, a Coonamble farmer, who is passionate about landholders' rights against gas mining encroachment and its enabling infrastructure being imposed on landholders, especially farmers.
Since it was first proposed in 2009 the controversial high pressure Hunter Gas Pipeline has met with strong opposition from landholders and farmers due to the high risks to water, landholders' properties, impacts to food security, primary producers' businesses, proximity to landholder residences, biosecurity and biodiversity.
HGLRA Inc. President Meg Bowman said landholders had come together in opposition to this destructive proposed project.
"We have well over 100 members and over 60 attended to listen to the insights and research shared by the speakers at this event," she said.
"We were grateful to have speakers of this calibre. They were informative and presented data indicating gas is on the decline. These gas companies lobby politicians with little concerns for landholders' rights and with no consideration for the issues we have due to the high risks such as floods, fire, safety, security and reducing property values."
NSW election candidates were also invited to attend to hear of risks and concerns of landholders, including presentations by two HGLRA executives. Those who attended were Labor's candidate for Upper Hunter Peree Watson, Anne McGowan standing for Elizabeth Farrelly Independents in the Upper House and Independent Dale McNamara.
Anne McGowan also held a Save The Koala picnic on the day to help raise awareness of the impacts to endangered koalas and their habitats, of which there are two known established koala habitats along the proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline route.
Many other threatened species will be impacted if the destructive project is allowed to proceed, she said.
Santos has previously stated that the company would work with landholders to obtain access and compensation agreements before it applied for a pipeline licence.
Supporting for the pipeline project is Business NSW, who have said that the Narrabri gas project and the associated Hunter Gas Pipeline are needed to secure the state's gas supply.
