The outcry comes after a recent $500 million pipeline announcement by the APA Group and Santos for the area in the North West Plains section of the New England.

The pipeline would connect the Narrabri project to NSW main gas artery, which runs from Moomba in South Australia to Sydney.

But farmers and local communities are concerned for the safety and integrity of Australia’s Great Artesian Basin.

“Pipeline explosions and accidents are too frequent in Liquid Natural Gas transportation abroad,” Armidale climate activist Vee Ness said.

“Not a risk we should take in our agricultural regions here.

“The Great Artesian Basin is Australia's largest and most important subterranean water supply.

“As a regional education centre, I believe Armidale has an important role to play in teaching our Minister for Agriculture, Water and Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, that “clean water is our most valuable resource”.

Santos submitted a statement on February 1 to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment detailing the Narrabri Gas Project environmental impact.

Santos’ Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Gallagher, said Santos had spent time producing a comprehensive EIS so the local Narrabri community and stakeholders can be confident the environment and water will be protected as the Project is developed.

“The EIS has concluded the project can proceed safely with minimal and manageable risk to the environment,” he said.

“The Narrabri Gas Project has the potential to play a significant role in the domestic energy space.

“Natural gas has a vital role to play in delivering energy security, whilst having the additional benefit of being 50 per cent cleaner than coal resulting in a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

“The development of new natural gas resources is crucial in assisting Australia’s move towards a clean energy future.

“In NSW alone, more than one million homes and 33,000 businesses rely on natural gas as a source of energy.”

The Project is predicted to create around 1300 jobs during the initial construction phase and around 200 ongoing jobs, many of which will be locally based.

Over its life, the project will generate around $1.2 billion in State royalties to help provide important services like education, health and transport infrastructure.

But Armidale activist Pat Schultz said the community isn’t being heard. 

“I went out to Narrabri for the planning and assessment commission meeting,” she said.

“There was at least 20 people who stood up and spoke really convincingly about why the coal seam gas shouldn’t go ahead.

“People talked about the air, the water, the land, the rivers and the breakdown of the wells … the damage that's already happened and the spills that are there already.

“I spoke about the difficulty of disposing that much salt water – two people spoke in support but both of them had been on the payroll as a contractor.”