Farmers near Bellata and Gurley have won a landmark case to have a Petroleum Exploration Licence cancelled.
This week the State Government cancelled PELs 468 – 470 held by mining exploration company Leichhardt Resources due to their inability to meet conditions of the licence.
The New South Wales Minister for Energey and Resources, Anthony Roberts, said the government was cracking down on titleholders which were failing to adequately explore for the state’s resources or causing
uncertainty for local communities.
“The Government takes compliance with licence conditions seriously,” he said.
“The NSW Government, in line with the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer’s recommendations, is supportive of a safe, sustainable gas industry that adheres to best practice standards within a regime of strong regulation, compliance and enforcement.”
The cancellation of the licence ended a 6 year long battle for local landholders who began protesting against the development in 2008.
Leichhardt Resources was granted the PEL in 2009, and contracted energy explorer Planet Gas Limited to begin negotiating access agreements with landholders, complete seismic surveys and environmental studies in the region.
By 2011 the Bellata Gurley Action Group had formed and was meeting regularly to investigate the company’s operations.
The group, headed by local farmer Penny Blatchford, succeeded in getting all landholders within the PEL to sign a petition to have the licence cancelled.
Mrs Blatchford also lodged a formal legal complaint with the government about the company’s conduct.
Despite their efforts, the New South Wales Resources Minister at the time, Chris Hartcher, renewed the licence in 2012 on the condition that Leichhardt Resources were able to complete a program of work in the region.
Campaigning and research continued, and last year Mrs Blatchford again requested the government investigate the situation and cancel PEL 470.
She also engaged a solicitor, and had legal documents drawn up outlining their research.
“I had our soils tested, I had an independent researcher come in and map our soils so we could prove how much productive agricultural land we had, and whether we were in the Great Artesian Basin recharge area,” she said.
“We had such a strong argument that our agricultural land should not be mined, and it sent a message that we’re not going to play along.
“We don’t want a CSG industry, we feel the risk it poses to our productivity, assets, water and soil is too great and research has confirmed that.”
Mrs Blatchford believes the community’s united front led to their success.
“We nipped it in the bud immediately, their full intention was to drill a core hole, and they’d already done 22 kilometres of seismic surveys,” she explained.
“They’d arranged a driller, I know this because it was in the Freedom of Information documents I obtained, but because they could get no one to sign an access agreement, they just couldn’t get in.”
She believes this decision will set an important example for other communities in NSW fighting to have licences removed.
“This is the first investigation that Coal Seam Gas has undergone and this is also the first licence in NSW to be cancelled,” she said.
“It’s really important to show that it can be done, if you have the right research and the legal support.
“I think the government realises that there’s certain places where CSG shouldn’t go, the regulations are tight and getting tighter.”
Mrs Blatchford isn’t ruling out the possibility of more companies trying to mine the land around Gurley and Bellata, but finds comfort in the recently extended moratorium on any new PELs.
She’s confident Santos won’t be applying for the exploration licence that covers her property.
“Santos has said they won’t come here, they’ve signed a memorandum of understanding, and we’ve got a signed document,” she said.
“They don’t have commercial licence yet and I think we’ve shown that if you don’t have community support it’s a very long road.
“We’ve already done the research, we’re already set up to fight this, and we’re financial.”
The NSW Environmental Defenders Office acted as solicitors for the Gurley Bellata Action Group for the last four years and receives donations from the group.