“The MGPA is not trying to stop gas getting to Wellington,” MGPA spokesperson Mary Cadell said.

“It simply states that private land in this area of black alluvial soil is not safe or suitable for a pipeline and that it should be placed on major public thoroughfare where it can be safely and properly maintained.”

The Narrabri to Wellington pipeline is caught in crossfire between the Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord and the Eastern Star Gas Company.

The MGPA, which represents farmers who own the land the pipeline will run through, said the current work on a central ranges project was another line causing severe damage to properties and was concerned it could happen to Wellington and district farmers.

“Our photographs taken from helicopters prove the central ranges pipeline north of Coolah has been washed out in heavy rain and flooding,” Ms Cadell said.

“The choppers lowered sandbags into gullies to support the pipe. It was filled by more than 50 council workers and State Emergency Service personnel but the bags were soon washed away.”

The proposed pipe to Wellington is expected to either connect to the central ranges pipeline or lie alongside it in the same easement but will be twice the size, according to the MGPA.

The debate follows a story in the Wellington Times in December last year where the Eastern Star Gas group urged mediation between Eastern Star and the MGPA. At the time of print the MGPA had not answered Eastern Star’s appeal.

Ms Cadell said the MGPA would be meeting within the next fortnight to discuss a proposal from Eastern Star Gas that they fund a mediation session between the two parties.

The MGPA said, of the landholders on the 100 kilometres of the route that had been approached, only two of them in the region had agreed to access for field surveys by Eastern Gas.

The MGPA also warned that almost 50 landholders in their region didn’t want the pipeline and refused ESG access.

Eastern Star had told the Times that landholders in the Wellington area were “for the moment allowing access”. A spokesperson for Eastern Star said the environmental submission to New South Planning Authorities was expected within months.