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http://www.nvi.com.au/articles/May19_anderson.html

Anderson?s advice on Mullaley pipeline

May 19, 2011

Nationals Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson has told opponents of a gas pipeline planned for the Mullaley region, to ?stay proactive?.

Mr Anderson recently met with members of the Mullaley Gas & Pipeline Accord (MGPA) and urged them to continue their fight to have the pipeline in ?an appropriate location?.

Mullaley farmers are fighting plans by Narrabri-based gas company Eastern Star Gas (ESG) to bury a high pressure gas pipeline across their private farmland.

Mr Anderson told the meeting of the Mullaley Gas & Pipeline Accord that he believes, with proper representation, the group would be able to negotiate a pipeline route that is acceptable to all.

Mr Anderson made the comments while viewing the effects the pipeline would have on farming operations at Andrew Craig?s property ?Werilto?, near Mullaley.

Mr Craig, whose farm would be bisected by the pipe, told Mr Anderson the project would seriously threaten the viability of his family?s black soil farming operation and put the hard work of four generations in jeopardy.

The MGPA, made up of a group of more than 50 farmers, claim the fragile floodplain is too unstable to operate a pipeline safely because of the risk of erosion and damage during frequent flood events.

Eastern Star Gas is pursuing plans to build the pipeline in the Cox?s Creek area west of Gunnedah, from its production fields near Narrabri, to an export processing plant at Newcastle.

Gas would also be piped to Wellington in the Central West for use in a proposed power station.

Opponents of the pipeline claim the easement will interfere with their ability to operate their farms safely and profitably.

They also claim Eastern Star Gas is taking advantage of a legislative loophole to allow it to profit unjustly at their expense.

Mr Anderson said the new Minister for Planning, Brad Hazzard, and others, must be given time to build policy around the framework of the Coalition?s Strategic Land Use Policy.

?The application from Eastern Star Gas is just that ? there?s no rubber stamp,? Mr Anderson told the meeting.

?I?m encouraging everyone to ?cool their heels? while productive land use plans are prepared.?

Mr Anderson said he wanted to look at options, including the Newell Highway as an alternative option for the pipeline route.

?I do not believe it should go through the floodplain, for the reasons outlined by the farmers who live and work on the plains,? he said.

The MGPA says the group welcomes the reassurances from Mr Anderson.

MGPA representative, Mary Cadell, says the group is alarmed because Eastern Star Gas is still pursuing its route across private farmland.

?This is in spite of the fact that politicians of all persuasions and the New South Wales Farmers? have declared this infrastructure should not go on valuable agricultural land and better routes exist elsewhere, including the Newell Highway,? Mrs Cadell said.

The MGPA has been negotiating the terms of a meeting with the fledgling gas company, but this has now been put on hold while the State Government determines how the project will be dealt with under the new planning process.