Labor's political opponents say Gloucester residents were left in the dark about approval of a major coal seam gas project in the area.
A decision on the AGL Gloucester Gas project was delegated to the Planning Assessment Commission.
It approved the project on February 22 after imposing a number of conditions but the decision was not made public for about six days.
‘‘The whole process makes a mockery of the supposed ‘tough new rules’ [for coal seam gas projects] announced late last year,’’ Greens upper house MP Cate Faehrmann said.
About 150 Gloucester residents met recently to discuss concerns about area mining, and were unaware the project was approved, she said.
Upper Hunter independent state election candidate Tim Duddy said the approval ‘‘puts the local water supply and sustainable agricultural industries at risk’’.
A Planning Assessment Commission spokeswoman said it typically took a few days for paperwork to be processed and for the Department of Planning to be notified and for it, in turn, to notify the proponent and people who had made submissions about a project. Decisions were then made public on the commission’s website.
Email a friend