A public information forum provided by Santos TNT Pty Ltd (Santos) at Bunnan on Tuesday saw Bunnan residents leave disappointed and disgruntled.
Following a five hour forum at the end of last month, the forum was held by the company with the intention of presenting their information to the residents of Bunnan and fielding questions from the community members.
The anger, frustration and resistance of the Save Bunnan Inc group was soon to be realised when the public forum transformed into a yelling match, however Santos representatives were able to present their information to the near full capacity Bunnan Community Hall.
The Bunnan community walked away with applause and achieving a goal they set out, but this is not the end.
The Save Bunnan Inc put a motion to chairperson Bev Adams that Santos and coal seam gas extraction in the Bunnan and Wybong Creek Catchment area is not welcome. “Therefore, Santos should make good their unqualified commitment to not return and not undertake any operations in this area.”
The motion was voted for 36 to nil against, with a small group refusing to vote.
Not one person in the room voted against the motion.
A Save Bunnan Inc member asked Santos public affairs principal adviser Sam Crafter after the vote if they would still carry out exploration on the Bunnan property of Errol Bates.
Mr Crafter answered yes; we will still drill the core hole.
“We are trying to get an understanding of the resources and the availability of coal seam gas.”
The issue that is dividing the community first came to light in March and has been a constant war of industries since.
Save Bunnan Inc secretary David Stevenson said they couldn’t see any other way but to attack.
“We see this as our last chance to have any say about coal seam gas in this area; if we don’t put in a good effort they will go right ahead in our area.”
In the transitional arrangements of the staged implementation of the NSW Government’s Strategic Regional Land Use Policy released on Monday, one key transitional measure is an immediate 60 day moratorium on the granting of new coal, coal seam gas and petroleum exploration licences in NSW.
The moratorium has been welcomed by such bodies as the NSW Farmers’ Association, however any exploration licences granted under the old policy will not be affected, including Santos’ licence at Bunnan.
Mr Crafter said Santos have a landholder in Bunnan who is willing to work with them so they will continue to work with them and keep doing the preparation work for exploration.
“If a landholder says no, we’ll go away, but we’ve always been able to work with landholders.”
He said they will not be ceasing plans and are currently finalising the environmental factors documentation.
“Some Bunnan residents are very interested in what we do so we plan to take them to an exploration site to show them.”
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