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Community groups have urged the government to give them more time to go through the 7000-page Narrabri Gas Project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Narrabri-based group, People for the Plains, has officially requested the government extend the consultation period to 90 days.
In a letter to Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, the group said “ordinary members of the community are not equipped with the necessary expertise, scientific and otherwise, to full evaluate the adequacy of the EIS”.
People for the Plains member and Narrabri farmer Sally Hunter said while many in the community held concerns, they also had jobs and families to look after.
“Santos has been working on this for three and a half years, and we get 60 days,” Ms Hunter said.
“We’ll be living with the impacts for the next 25 years. We have 60 days to think about the next 25 years.”
However, Barwon MP Kevin Humphries has shouted down the project’s “knockers” and said it was time for the project to get started.
“This has been the most reviewed project on record,” Mr Humphries said.
“Planning started well over a decade ago and now we just need to get on with it.
Mr Humphries said coal seam gas and agriculture could co-exist, and the project would promote the economic diversity of the Narrabri community.
“Everyone has the right to share in the wealth of our communities and this project will bring significant benefits to the Narrabri region,” he said.
The Department of Planning and Environment is currently considering the extension request.
By law the government is required to put the document on exhibition for 30 days, but due to the “high level of public interest” that was extended to 60 days, closing on April 24.