Members of the Narrabri community have told the Northern Daily Leader of their support for Santos following the arrest of several out-of-towners protesting work at our Leewood site south of Narrabri.
The protestors have repeatedly broken into the securely fenced site, where Santos is constructing a water treatment facility to allow salty water extracted during our operations to be treated and used for purposes like irrigation.
Narrabri Shire Chamber of Commerce president Russell Stewart said the “vast majority” of the Shire was pro-Santos.
“We are sick and tired of people travelling in, annoying us, getting on the television and telling the world what we think,” Mr Stewart said.
“We don’t have a problem with coal seam gas, we have a problem with out-of-towners coming here and revving things up.”
“Not one of the people arrested has been from Narrabri Shire. Surely one Narrabri farmer would have locked on if it was such a big issue?” he said.
Louise Tout from Yes2Gas, said Santos’ work was important for the town’s future.
“Narrabri is not going to grow or move forward if we stay as we are.”
“Narrabri has relied on agriculture for a long time and this is an opportunity to have another industry in our area which we believe will make us an economically stronger shire.”
The proposed Narrabri Gas Project could deliver more than 1200 jobs during construction and around 200 ongoing jobs as well as up to 50% of NSW’s natural gas needs.