LIVERPOOL Plains Shire Council has opted to change its position on the route of the proposed Queensland Hunter Gas Pipeline.
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At Wednesday's August council meeting, councillors voted to advocate to the state government and Hunter Gas, the company behind the project, to reroute the pipeline where possible.
The new motion will mean the council will push for the pipeline to be rerouted onto stock routes and public land wherever possible, while ensuring the security of local water.
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The council will now inform the company and the government of its new position and will resolve to "facilitate discussions to reroute the pipeline".
Before the motion, put forward by councillor Ken Cudmore, was unanimously passed, councillor Paul Moules questioned who in the state government the council should inform of its new position.
"I question whether we should be writing to Ms Berejiklian and whether we should be writing to the DPIE," Cr Moules said.
Liverpool Plains mayor Andrew Hope said the relevant state government authorities would be notified of the decision, as per protocol.
"Normally when we flag that we are writing to the state government we write to the relevant minister of the relevant department, which is what I will do," Cr Hope said.
"In this case it would be the minister responsible for the DPIE and usual code of practice when you do that is you copy in the Premier and the Deputy Premier."
The change in stance comes after a similar motion was defeated at the council's July council meeting, which was followed by a meeting of local landholders voicing their concerns about the project.
Quirindi farmer Peter Wills said the council's new stance was a start, but there was "a long way to go" to limit the project's impact on agriculture.
"I think the good thing about trying to move it onto public land is that you won't be affecting agriculture so much," Mr Wills said.
"There's a feeling that they have acknowledged the problem somewhat, but if there's not a travelling stock route nearby, it's still got to go through private land.
"It is certainly a start, but in regards to what we are pushing for it's only about 10 per cent of what we want."
Hunter Gas managing director Garbis Simonian said the company was eager to continue working closely with landholders and the council.
"We understand the view of council and a number of landholders that they would prefer the pipeline to be in stock routes and other public land where possible, and where we can we aim to do this within the conditions of our approval," Mr Simonian said.
"Our consultation is continuing, including on finalising the route maps within our existing approval conditions.
"Through a collaborative approach, we are committed to refining the pipeline route to have the least impact on the environment, landholder amenity and cultural heritage."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
