Council locks the gate on CSG

Councillor Simon Clough wants to lock the gate to CSG companies on Council land.

Lismore City Council has defied the NSW Government and imposed a blanket ban on CSG operations of any kind on Council owned or operated land.

Council voted on Tuesday night 9/2 (Councillors Battista and Graham against) to also seek further legal advice to determine Council's position as the matter could find its way to court.

Council received legal advice stating it had no grounds on which to refuse Metgtasco's application for seismic testing on road reserves in Rock Valley, as it had already been approved by the consent authority, the NSW Department of Resources & Energy.

However, several councillors made fierce arguments that the issue was simply too important to kowtow to the state government and if it meant a court battle, so be it.

"We've been told, let's be good children… Let's tell them no. We need to stop and pull back. It's a gas rush," Cr David Yarnall warned. "We need wholesale change in state and federal legislation to protect the people who are having this foisted upon them." Cr Simon Clough said there were many issues of concern and questioned the belief that coal seam gas was cleaner than coal. He said he did not want to see our water and air poisoned and local industries ruined for 25-30 years. He also warned if Metgasco got consent from landholders for seismic testing the residents may have inadvertently forfeited all future land rights.

"Depending on how it (the consent) is worded, it may be they have already agreed to exploratory drilling."

Cr Clough said Metgasco's arrogance showed in the Review of Environmental Factors (REF), which stated Casino was the closest major centre to Rock Valley Road, when of course it is Lismore.

"Is this just a roughly edited computer spit out (of the REF for Clarence Valley)?" he asked. "It's a bit of an insult.

"We need to challenge this - let's make a stand."

Councillors Peter Graham and Gianpiero Battista said while they were both concerned with safeguarding water, they felt Lismore could be missing out on an economic benefit by putting the brakes on CSG.

"I don't want to push away an opportunity, and it could be an opportunity. I want more protection in CSG, but I don't want to scare them off," Cr Graham said.

He said to his knowledge there had been no fracking in Australia to date, to which the gallery responded noisily, and said there was no registered pollution of any water stream from CSG. A claim strongly disputed by Cr Smith.

"We know for a fact that there are dozens of groups across the country that have done tests, that have gotten examples from bores and fracking sites that show there is contamination in the water, that this is highly dangerous to human beings," Cr Smith said. "Let's act now and not wait for the consequences later. We need to fight harder for this because our community requires us to, because the state government isn't doing it."

Cr Graham warned Council about going down "another legal hole" and said it could cost ratepayers a million dollars if it went to court. However Cr Yarnall, a notorious bean counter, said he couldn't see it costing that much.

Cr Graham, a dairy farmer, also claimed that Metgasco had already done seismic testing on the boundary of his property, bordered by Kyogle Road and Bungabee State Forest, "and we got nothing, no letter".

Cr Battista argued wind and solar power could not produce enough power to sustain our way of life.

"It could mean jobs, it could mean cheaper energy for this area… and you dismiss this completely," he said. "Let's have a meeting to discuss these issues. If we do this (refuse the application) we potentially incur great costs. We had that experience with the quarry (Champions)… Nobody wins because your rates are going to go up because you have to recoup the costs one way or another. This should be solved by our (parliaments) in Sydney and in Canberra. There is a Senate commission looking at this issue. Why don't we just wait and see what they say?"

At the beginning of the meeting, Ian Gaillard from the Keerrong Gas Squad spoke in public access, saying Council had "shown some ticker" in refusing the Metgasco application last month. He implored them to stay strong and follow the example of Moree Plains Shire Council, which had taken the precautionary principle and imposed a moratorium until a full assessment on the impacts of CSG extraction on agriculture was done. Mr Gaillard said until there was clarity on how underground water flows interacted, it would be irresponsible to allow any CSG activity.

"We rely on you, our councillors, to speak up for us," Mr Gaillard said. "The (Metgasco) submission is just a tick box submission."

He also noted the REF claimed the development of gas reserves in the region was to meet NSW power needs, yet Metgasco plans were to pipe much of the gas to Queensland for export.

As well as seeking expert legal advice, Council also resolved to hold a councillor briefing on CSG in February/March with representatives from the Australian Petroleum and Exploration Associations, the NSW Department of Trade & Investment, Rock Valley GAS Rangers, Keerrong Gas Squad, NSW Farmers' Association and Norco.