THE Land wants to know if you have had dealings with a mining or coal seam gas company seeking access to your land.
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The Petroleum Onshore Act, which controls coal seam gas (CSG) land access, will be up for debate when Parliament resumes in February and we want to help make the community's voice part of the process.
If you have dealt with a mining or coal seam gas (CSG) company seeking access to your land contact Mike Foley at: michael.foley@fairfaxmedia.com.au
The NSW government is currently considering public submissions on the proposed amendments to the Petroleum Onshore Act, which controls land access for CSG companies.
Late least year, the amendments failed to make their way through Parliament, with a raft of amendments from opposition and cross-benchers halting the debate.
The Amendment Bill would impose a range of new conditions on CSG proponents, but stops short of granting veto rights to property owners to lock the gate to CSG.
Writing in The Land this week, retired Supreme Court judge John Nader QC said the arbitration process to negotiate land access terms and conditions between mining, CSG companies and landholders is broken.
“It would be hard to imagine a more unbalanced and badly considered set of arbitration laws.”
News reports over the last decade are littered with stories of NSW farmers who feel they have been given short-shrift in arbitration.
Greens mining spokesman Jeremy Buckingham says the current laws need significant changes.
“Land access agreements are an arduous, stressful, time consuming process.
“The key complain I have is there is no capacity under the current laws to refuse participation. That is unfair.”
Mr Buckingham said the process moves too quickly, taking less than two months from the time a miner first seeks access to land to the first stage of arbitration.
