Brett Darley, Santos executive vice president Eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea

A few weeks ago, I met with some of the landholders who currently host some of our infrastructure in NSW.

I wanted to hear from them in person and was concerned by the amount of misinformation, particularly about the Hunter Gas Pipeline, circulating within the broader community.

In particular, there was a complaint about one of our advertisements that had been published in this newspaper stating, normal agricultural production can occur on the easement after the pipeline is constructed.

It is important for the newspaper’s readers to know that AdStandards has investigated and dismissed the complaint.

To set the record straight, normal agricultural production can indeed continue on a landholder’s easement after the pipeline is constructed.

This includes tilling, planting, cultivating and harvesting crops such as sorghum, lucerne and barley that we know are so important to many farmers in the region.

Farm vehicles and machinery can also be used as they normally would. We understand how important the agricultural sector is and we are committed to working cooperatively with farmers along the pipeline route to do our very best to ensure that our activities do not get in the way of, or harm their day-to-day operations and their businesses.

The pipe will be buried at a minimum depth of 700mm but can be buried deeper depending on landholder requirements.

It won’t be visible once constructed and we will restore the land to its previous condition when construction is completed.

We’ve been working with landholders across Australia for more than 60 years and have a network of similar pipelines across the country to transport natural gas. NSW needs gas.

This project is really important to provide energy security and put downward pressure on energy prices by adding supply to the market for electricity, manufacturing and small businesses.

We want to work with you as good corporate neighbours. We want to understand and address your needs, and keep you informed about our activities. Our team is on the ground every day to answer your questions.

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