Macquarie Energy Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Dart Energy, is in the valley under Petroleum Exploration Licence no 460 (PEL 460) with a proposal to drill a single core hole to investigate the potential of coal seam gas.

A meeting with Dart Energy and the Putty community was held on April 9 with more than 40 people.

The meeting was to give the opportunity to meet the company and ask questions about the exploration process and the company’s expectations of that exploration.

Those at the meeting were given a presentation and brochure from Dart Energy about the exploration project and then question and answer time.

Dart Energy NSW Exploration Manager said at the meeting it did not plan to do any facing in the exploration drilling.

The questions raised have been put into a transcript of the meeting.

The company confirmed it had not at that time had approval for its Review of Environmental Factors.

It confirmed the PEL 460 expires in July and it will look to renew this if it happens before work starts at Putty.

A question of the access rights of landholders was asked and Dart Energy was to investigate an agreement.

The meeting was told the Under the Petroleum (onshore) Act 1991, which legislates petroleum exploration in NSW, there can be no exploration except by access agreement with the landholder or as determined by an arbitrator.

Many questions could not be answered by the company because it was in the exploration stage and not in production.

Many residents said this left them uncertain about the future of their properties.

There was a shared uncertainty by the residents and the company about the consequences of the change of State Government, and the company told residents it expected whatever changes made to Part 3A planning legislation could make regulation more stringent than less.

One access agreement allowed drilling of one test hole on a property.

A full transcript of the questions and answers session is available on the Putty Valley website at www.putty.nsw.au under news.

A meeting of the Putty Community Association will be at the hall at 6pm on Saturday, April 30, to consider if a sub-committee should be formed to disseminate the community with information about coal seam gas exploration in the area.