The residents wanted to find out what they would potentially be living with if the proposal was to be approved.

They were described as being in a “state of shock” after seeing gasfields and speaking with Queensland residents.

Narrabri resident, Hugh Barrett, said the group flew over gasfields south of Chinchilla and spent six hours driving through gasfields north east of Roma.

“We met many Queensland locals genuinely traumatised by the impacts of the coal seam gas industry,” Dr Barrett said.

The group agreed having a gasfield in their backyard would have “enormous and disturbing ramifications”.

“The massive scale of the coal seam gas developments in Queensland is shocking. The gas drillers start in a state forest, then consume surrounding country and communities with wells, compressor stations, pipelines, roads, huge dams, treatment plants and workers’ camps.

“The noise, the smells and the 24-hour operations all became very real to us,” he said.

Wee Waa farmer, Victoria Hamilton, said the group heard many examples of farmers being misled by gas companies.

“The farmers felt that once they allowed the gas companies in, they had effectively signed away control of their everyday lives. Now, having personally witnessed established and expanding coal seam gas fields, we who travelled to the Queensland gasfields are all more convinced and determined to prevent a similar invasion in the Narrabri region,” Mrs Hamilton said.

Santos’ proposal would see developments cover around 98,000 hectares in the Narrabri area.

A Santos spokesperson said unless NSW could develop an alternate source of natural gas, the state was likely to face much higher prices.

“Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project could supply NSW homes, small businesses, major industries and electricity generators with almost half the state’s natural gas needs and bring substantial economic benefits to Narrabri and the region,” the spokesperson said.

They said the project could have substantial long-term benefits for the local Narrabri area, as well as the regional and NSW economy, employing 1200 people during the construction phase, 200 people during the operational phase and contributing more than $1.6 billion in royalty payments to the state.

“We are committed to delivering this project safely, sustainably and with minimal impact on the local communities and environment, ensuring the north-west continues to prosper through further investment and job creation, without impact on the agricultural productivity of the region,” the spokesperson said.