Moree landholders who may be affected by the proposed $1 billion Queensland Hunter Gas Pipeline are invited to a meeting in the Liverpool Plains to find out more about the project.
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The proposed 820 kilometre high-pressure natural gas pipeline would run from Queensland's gas hub at Wallumbilla, near Roma, to Newcastle, via Moree and the Hunter Valley, providing a supply route for Santos' proposed Narrabri Gas Project
Originally approved in 2009, the project - which could cut the cost of transporting gas from Queensland to NSW by 40 per cent - was recently granted a five-year extension by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, after it failed to get underway in the past decade.
In its approval of the five-year extension, the state government described the project as "critical" for the NSW energy sector as it would increase energy security and reliability, create greater competition between gas transmission companies, put downward pressure on gas prices in NSW, facilitate the development of gas-fired dispatchable energy and support regional development.
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However, a number of landholders in the Gunnedah and Liverpool Plains shires, who are in the pathway of the project, are disappointed they had not been contacted about the five-year extension, claiming they had not heard from Hunter Gas Pipeline (the company behind the project) for more than eight years.
Liverpool Plains landholder Margaret Fleck said a number of people are unaware of the project, particularly if land ownership has changed hands since the pipeline was first approved in 2009.
"If you were the owner at the time then you were probably approached," she said.
"[But] they thought the whole thing was over and were unaware of the five-year extension because it's been eight, nine years since we've heard from [Hunter Gas Pipeline].
"Apart from the fact that people don't know this pipeline was coming, they've built houses in the middle of it and dams and other infrastructure."
Ms Fleck said another issue is that the original agreed-upon route has changed since the pipeline was approved.
When the pipeline project was first proposed in 2008, it was reported that it would run through 370 parcels of land in the Moree Plains Shire, affecting 75 landholders from around Boomi, Garah, Ashley, Moree, Gurley and Bellata.
Much of the northern part of the pipeline around Boomi, Garah and Ashley follows travelling stock reserves and the railway line, however the section from Moree to Bellata runs through private property.
Moree Plains Shire Council put in a submission objecting the proposed modification to secure another five years to commence the project, saying the strategic context of the project had changed and that the impacts of the project should be assessed under contemporary standards.
Council currently has a moratorium in place which bans all exploration and extraction activities in the shire to protect our valuable water resource, however that doesn't include the construction of a pipeline.
The North West Alliance is hosting a concerned community members' meeting at Quirindi RSL Club at 2pm on Saturday, February 8 and invite anyone who might be affected by the pipeline to come along.
Ms Fleck said the meeting is all about raising awareness about the issue and the implications associated with hosting a high-pressure gas pipeline.
"People need to know what it's like to host a high-pressure gas pipeline, how onerous it is on landowners, what impact it has on businesses, how close it can get to houses, dams and sheds and construction times," she said.
