North West NSW farmers have launched a legal appeal in the Land and Environment Court against the Independent Planning Commission’s approval of the destructive Santos Narrabri gasfield.

A national day of action will be held tomorrow (Thursday, December 3) as members of the Gomeroi/Gamilaroi/Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay Nation and their allies rally in opposition to Santos’ Narrabri gasfield, following Federal Government approval last week.

The Morrison Government’s approval of the Santos Narrabri gasfield has only strengthened the resolve of local Traditional Owners, farmers, and concerned community members to continue the fight against the destructive project.

North west NSW farmers say their worst fears are being realised as gas companies announce plans to raise so-called “zombie-PELs” from the dead in response to the Independent Planning Commission’s decision to greenlight the Santos Narrabri gasfield.

Farmers and Gomeroi Traditional Owners fighting the Santos Narrabri coal seam gasfield will ramp up the battle to protect their lands and precious water resources despite today’s disastrous IPC decision. 

Lock the Gate Alliance and north west NSW farmers have today slammed the Planning Department’s decision to label the destructive and polluting Santos Narrabri coal seam gas “approvable."

Lock the Gate Alliance has condemned the referral of Santos’ Narrabri coal seam gas project to the Independent Planning Commission just days after a Parliamentary Inquiry found there was a severe lack of information and regulation related to the industry.

“The Commission will be stabbing in the dark when it tries to make a decision on this destructive, polluting proposal,” Lock the Gate NSW spokesperson Georgina Woods said.

“Major flaws in regulation and knowledge of coal seam gas were identified by a parliamentary committee two weeks ago, yet Planning Minister Rob Stokes has not listened and has referred this project anyway.”

Despite water flow having no regard for borders, the Great Artesian Basin is managed by three states and the Northern Territory as a local water resource.

The current NSW Great Artesian Basin Water Sharing Plan expires on 1 July 2020 and Water in NSW, part of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, has prepared a draft replacement plan. 

This week the department held public meetings in Moree, Bourke, Lightning Ridge and Coonamble, as part of the public exhibition phase.

Based on the NSW Government's failure to comply with safety recommendations, the Narrabri Gas Project is unsafe and should be halted, writes Johanna Evans and Anna Christie.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT has failed to satisfy a raft of recommendations by the NSW Chief Scientist intended to provide ‘a roadmap for the development of a world-class gas industry that is safe and sustainable’. In 2014, 16 recommendations were handed down by then Chief Scientist, Professor Mary O’Kane, which the NSW Government supported in full.

The recommendations included implementing ‘strong and certain regulation’ as well as ensuring mechanisms for data transparency and insurance against long-term environmental damage.

The NSW Environmental Protection Agency appears to have abandoned a key coal seam gas risk mitigation measure recommended by the NSW Chief Scientist, placing landholders at future risk should the industry go ahead in the state. 

The EPA has quietly conceded it will not proceed with implementing a long-term environmental rehabilitation fund recommended by the Chief Scientist.

The environmental authority also admitted it was not sure insurance would be available to protect landholders from spills and contamination. 

The concerning revelations follow the EPA’s appearance at a Legislative Council inquiry earlier this month into the long-delayed implementation of the NSW Chief Scientist’s recommendations on coal seam gas.