BY DI SNEDDON
Residents in objection to the Hunter Gas Pipeline (HGP) project have been urged to raise their concerns at all levels of government.
About 40 residents attended a public meeting at Elderslie, near Singleton, earlier this month and many left the meeting a little shell-shocked about the project.
HGP proposes to build and operate a high pressure, underground steel gas pipeline to transport gas from the Wallumbilla Gas Hub near Roma in Queensland to Newcastle in NSW via Moree, Narrabri, Gunnedah, Quirindi, Scone, Muswellbrook, Singleton and Maitland.
A route alongside existing highways or rail lines may have been more generally accepted but the route appears to cross many private properties and it is the uncertainty surrounding this that the residents fear.
“We are not anti-pipleine on major roads, easements or rail corridors, but not through private property,” one of the organisers of the meeting, Meg Bowman, said.
She along with Pam Austin, Roland and Susan Johnson, called the public meeting to discuss the potential impacts and raise awareness about the project.
For some at the meeting, it was the first they had heard about the project that they thought had disappeared after its approval lapsed.
Instead an extension was granted earlier this year when State Minister for Planning Robert Stokes signed off on an extension approval.
A question from the floor asking where the precise route was could not be answered with one resident Rowan Vinson saying at one point he was told it was a north-south route and later, an east-west route.
Mrs Bowman said it was not about pitting one resident against another if some decided to agree to pipeline access on the property but added that it was important for residents to be aware of the potential ramifications.
“I implore you to get legal advice before you verbally agree to anything or sign off on anything,” Mrs Bowman said.
HGP Pty Ltd’s managing director Garbis Simonian admitted to The Hunter River Times this week that the company could have handled its communication with residents better and would do so moving forward.
Mr Simonian said residents could clarify if their property was affected by emailing him on gs*******@we******.au.
“Residents can email or phone me (0414 273 334) with their address and phone number, their DPP (deposited plan) and lot number and I will tell them if the route goes through their property,” Mr Simonian said.
He also said the company, where possible, would divert the route onto council owned land (beside roadways and stock routes) and that they would be beginning these conversations with councils and landowners very soon.
He said compensation would be based on land value and would include costs associated with agistment, lost crops or the need to replace property infrastructure and would not be offers of new driveways or holidays.
“Open conversation is very important to clear up any misunderstandings on both sides,” Mr Simonian said.
