Landholders bound by gas agreement they didn’t sign

By Ari McCamley, Agribusiness Partner

 The Land Court has handed down its first decision on an application that allowed a gas field development to proceed on private land without the landholders’ agreement. QGC wanted access to an unimproved property south of Chinchilla to drill six gas production wells. On  the  uncontradicted   evidence  of QGC’s valuer, the Land Court ordered  the  payment  of  $35,000  in compensation and imposed conditions to regulate the parties’ future relationship. Most unfortunately, the landholders were not represented at the hearing and did not tender any evidence. The decision creates an undesirable precedent and reminds landholders of the need to engage carefully in the resources-friendly land access regime that exists in Queensland.

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