John Alexander is concerned about the impacts of gas wells on the black cracking clay soils his plains are renowned for
JOHN Alexander says Arrow Energy's coal seam gas (CSG) tenure over his property on the Jimbour floodplain is creating an uncertain future for his family.
Defying the trend of young people leaving rural industries, the fourth generation farmer returned to the family property north-west of Toowoomba a decade ago after working as a mechanical engineer.
However, weighing up the viability of his business is no longer solely about rising production costs and profitability; it is about the unknown impacts of CSG production.
Mr Alexander said he was concerned about the environmental, structural and visual impacts of gas wells on the black cracking clay soils the plains are renowned for - and losing the ability to have complete control over his property.
"My biggest concern is the loss of flexibility in the future," he said.
"What's been proposed by Arrow is similar to the Cecil Plains area - a series of wells, one field processing facility and pipelines related to the movement of CSG gas and water," he said.
"I'm at the start of my farming business future and once you start putting structures up in the middle of the floodplains you start limiting what you can do."
While he has been heavily involved in voicing his concerns through the Jimbour Action Group, he believed the region had not been a major focus of the resource companies because the supply of gas was less than guaranteed when compared with other areas under tenure.
QCL
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