Santos vice president for eastern Australia, James Baulderstone, led the investor seminar in Sydney on November 26 which featured a slide titled ‘Acreage with potential to underpin NSW energy supply’.

The slide showed seven sub-basins across the Gunnedah Basin with the prospective exploration areas: Taroom, Bellata, Maules Creek, Bando, Tooraweena, Murrurundi. It angered many local farmers who said they were previously given assurances by Santos that the Australian company was only interested in exploring the Pilliga area in the North West. 

“The gasfield mapped as Taroom by Santos covers vast swathes of productive agricultural land across Moree Shire,” David Gillan said. 

David and Mandy Gillan and their three children have farmed their dryland property outside of Pallamallawa for close to a decade and say the land has remained productive even in recent years of drought.

“This area Santos is mapping for a prospective gasfield is fondly known in the shire as the Golden Triangle,” he said. “This is a region renowned for its highly productive dryland farming of wheat and durum, no place for a polluting coal seam gasfield.” 

Narrabri Shire farmer Sarah Ciesiolka said she was deeply concerned by the information – but not surprised. 

“Finally, we have confirmation of Santos’ long-term plans for our region and it demonstrates what the communities of the North West have long feared,” she said. “I’m angered that Santos would show such little regard for our community, mapping us as prospective gasfields and not telling us.

“These plans demonstrate Santos’ complete disregard for the views of the community, who have emphatically declared through community surveys across almost three million hectares of the North West that they want to live gasfield free.”

Nicky Kirkby of Bellata said she was shocked to see Santos put “this outrageous map out to their major investors”.

“Bellata landholders are certainly not going to watch our community become an industrial coal seam gasfield – we will fight this all the way,” she said. 

The investment seminar came in the same month as the NSW government unveiled its “reset” for CSG development in the state. The plan gives the green light to the industry but the Baird government claimed it will provide greater oversight by decluttering regulation. Critics, including outspoken Moree Mayor Katrina Humphries, said the reforms mean locals will have little say on mines which will affect their livelihoods.

Santos did not respond to the Moree Champion’s request for comment by deadline.