Domestic supply of gas
Employment
Investment in communities and TOs

I am a mother and grandmother with an honours degree in Agricultural Science, living in NSW. I am passionate about leaving a livable environment and climate for all future generations. The Narrabri Lateral Pipeline is seeking approval to transport gas from development of the Narrabri coal seam gas project. Coal seam gas is mainly methane, a fossil gas which causes 80 time more carbon polluting greenhouse gas than coal. It is now universally accepted that carbon pollution is causing inçreasing climate disruption. The IPCC and many other scientific groups have stated that no new fossil fuel mining projects should be approved to meet our Paris agreement commitments. The NSW Net Zero Commissions recent report highlights the urgent necessity of halting further fossil fuel approvals.

Development of the Narrabri gas project, despite being an approved project, must now be cancelled. Therefore the Narrabri pipeline is completely unnecessary and should not be approved.

There are many other reasons why the pipeline should not be approved. It will damage unique and irreplaceable environment in the Pilliga forest including endangered species, many other threatened native species, aboriginal cultural heritage, water availability and flows.

The pipeline will also impact many farming properties disrupting their farming operations, creeks, imporyant water flows and damaging the land itself affecting farming processes in this important food bowl. A large gas pipeline carries risks of leaks, explosion or fires which are becoming more frequent and ferocious with increasing climate change.

Insurance is another big concern for property owners, many insurers now refusing to cover properties with gas infrastructure. Property values will be adversely affected by the burden of a pipeline.

I strongly object to this pipeline and urge this project be rejected.

Full submission attached

Australians need energy source to build a sustainable community where everyone benefits.
We need to become more self reliant and encourage projects like these for economic growth.
Santos has a good history of being a responsible operator and having them develop this project should be supported.

I object to the proposed Narrabri Gas Project lateral pipeline for several reasons.
Firstly, as a Gomeroi woman, I fear the impacts on our cultural heritage by opening up the Pilliga for Santos’ 850 well Narrabri coal seam gasfield. The entire Pilliga has deep spiritual, social and cultural significance for us Gomeroi people. While the EIS does not discuss the cultural significance of the entire Bohena Creek for Gomeroi, the National Native Title Tribunal has acknowledged that all water resources, and especially Bohena Creek, are of major cultural importance to Gomeroi people. Despite the Tribunal recommending that no ground or surface disturbance within 500m of Bohena Creek should occur without Gomeroi consent, Santos proposes to drill the pipeline right under Bohena Creek and across six other major creeks, disturbing the alluvial groundwater. Construction of the pipeline would also wipe out two known sites of significance and damage a further four sites. The Pilliga’s integrity is central to our wellbeing and our cultural practice and must be left intact.
Other impacts include those to farmland and forest. The pipeline crosses 12 farms, with a little under half the land it would disturb being agricultural land and one fifth of the land to be disturbed now cropping land. The other half of the pipeline cuts through the Pilliga forest, and its construction would clear 168 hectares of forest and cut a 30 metre wide swathe through the Pilliga East forest, causing serious damage for microbats and small mammals, clearing habitat, and putting at risk already threatened species, such as the Pilliga Mouse, Eastern pygmy possum, and Corben’s Long-eared Bat, which are hanging on in the Pilliga.
Finally, Santos’ Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the pipeline does not take responsibility for the harm to biodiversity, water and climate from the bigger pipeline and gasfield. The EIS needs to be amended to consider the full negative economic impacts of the greenhouse gas emissions from the gasfield and the two pipelines, which is likely to be very significant given that experts predict that Narrabri will be the sixth biggest source of greenhouse pollution in NSW.

Letter of support attached, written as a life-long Narrabri local and a business person that services the wider region.
Please refer to full letter that outlines clear economic benefits that will onflow to many other areas of our community. A community that deserves a future.

See the Attached pdf submission