Local Attitudes to Changing Land Use – Narrabri Shire

Local Attitudes to Changing Land Use – Narrabri Shire Full Report December 2016 Hedda Haugen Askland Michael Askew Jo Hanley Meg Sherval David Farrugia Steven Threadgold Julia Coffey Local Attitudes to Changing Land Use – Narrabri Shire Full Report, December 2016 This research project is funded by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) and The University of Newcastle (UON). The project is a collaborative social research project between the two funding partners, conducted by researchers from the Centre for Social Research and Regional Futures (CSRRF) and the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), which form part of UON’s International Centre for Balanced Land Use (ICBLU). UON Research Team Dr Michael Askew (Project Director) Dr Hedda Haugen Askland (Chief Investigator) Dr Julia Coffey Dr David Farrugia Dr Jo Hanley Dr Meg Sherval Dr Steven Threadgold DPI Research Team Liz Rogers (Project Director) Alex Wells (Demographic analysis; Narrabri profile) Project Steering Committee Dr Michael Askew, CSRRF Dr Hedda Haugen Askland, CSRRF Dr Alan Broadfoot, NIER Dr Gerry Bobsien, NIER Dr Phil Wright, DPI Liz Rogers, DPI Kate Lorimer-Ward, DPI Citation details Askland HH, Askew M, Hanley J, Sherval M, Farrugia D, Threadgold S, Coffey J. 2016. Local Attitudes to Changing Land Use – Narrabri Shire. Full Report. December 2016. Newcastle, NSW: The University of Newcastle, NSW Department of Primary Industries Corresponding authors Dr Hedda Haugen Askland, Research Lead CSRRF, Senior Lecturer School of Humanities and Social Science, Faculty of Education and Arts, The University of Newcastle Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia. E [email protected] / T +61 2 4921 7067 Dr Michael Askew, Project Director CSRRF, Faculty of Education and Arts, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia. E [email protected] / T +61 2 4921 7324 Front cover design: Carla Torell; image: Hedda Haugen Askland Text design: Hedda Haugen Askland Images: Jo Hanley Report template: UON Marketing Resource Centre This project has been approved by the University of Newcastle’s Human Research Ethics Committee, Approval No. H- 2015-0193. All data contained in this report have been through a process of deidentification and no real names are used. Local attitudes to changing land use – Narrabri Shire Full report December 2016 Hedda Haugen Askland Michael Askew Jo Hanley Meg Sherval David Farrugia Steven Threadgold Julia Coffey A collaborative research project between The University of Newcastle and the NSW Department of Primary Industries 1 2 Thank you to all the Narrabri residents who participated in this research and all those who provided our research team accommodation, good food and a warm welcome to the Shire. 3 4 A NOTE FROM THE RESEARCH TEAM When reading this report it should be noted that, whilst there is an emphasis on coal seam gas (CSG) development, this is not an assessment of the viability or feasibility of CSG exploration within the Shire. The emphasis on CSG has emerged from the fact that the Santos Narrabri Project represents a significant—and imminent—land use change within the Shire. All participants were asked questions about their thoughts and experiences of past and present land use change and, subsequently, the question of CSG gained prominence in the data collected. In the report, we do not provide a quantitative break down of how many people are for or against CSG or other land use change. As we aim to illustrate through the chapters of this report, attitudes for or against land use change are vexed phenomena that draw together concerns about environmental, social and health impacts, issues related to the approval and operational processes, the role of diverse industries, and issues of equivalence, equity and fairness. Thus, whilst some participants were supportive of unfolding land use change, they could still be critical of the process by which the land use change was taking place and have concerns about what Narrabri receives in return; similarly, whilst some were critical of land use change, they could be positive about the idea of the subsequent diversification of the economy. In relation to CSG, for example, this means that some individuals would be outspoken about their support of the Santos Narrabri Project yet highly critical of land use governance in the assessment process. Others were outspoken about their oppo- sition to CSG but at the same time saw diversification of the local economy as central to the Shire’s future. The report should be read as an exploration of concerns and priorities of participants. In this way, many of the quotes have a critical—and often negative—underpinning. This does not mean that the participants cited are necessarily against land use change or, more specifically, CSG exploration, but rather highlights the multiple, complex and integrated concerns that underpin local attitudes to changing land use. Dr Michael Askew and Dr Hedda Haugen Askland Project Director and Chief Investigator 5 6 Local attitudes to changing land use – Narrabri Shire Executive summary This report presents the findings of a undertaken by social researchers from UON’s collaborative research project between Centre for Social Research and Regional Futures the NSW Department of Primary Industries (CSRRF) and Centre for Urban and Regional (DPI) and The University of Newcastle Studies (CURS), which form part of ICBLU. An (UON) on attitudes to changing land use in extensive literature search for secondary sources the Narrabri Shire, NSW. has underpinned the analysis of qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with The project evolved through dialogue 65 Narrabri Shire locals, comprised of residents between representatives from the DPI and and key stakeholders (planners and policy makers, UON’s International Centre for Balanced Land decision-makers and representatives). The Use (ICBLU) in late 2014, during which the DPI interviews lasted between one and three hours articulated a desire to better understand how and were designed to elicit deep, nuanced data in local communities experience, perceive and a respectful dialogue between the researcher and respond to land use change and to develop participant. The primary and secondary sources an evidence base for policy, planning and collected have generated an evidence base for community engagement. Narrabri Shire emerged understanding local attitudes to changing land as an appropriate site for an initial study of local use, which can inform policy and planning in rural attitudes to changing land use due to its history of and regional NSW. significant land use change and the intensification of coal mining and emergence of gas interests Based on the research, the following key that currently challenge the traditional agricultural findings have emerged: base of the community. • Land use change does not occur in a vacuum. The Narrabri study aimed to address the In Narrabri, local experiences and perceptions following overarching questions: of land use change are framed by particular social, cultural, economic, political and • How do local residents within the Narrabri natural dynamics. These dynamics represent Shire conceptualise and experience land use filters through which land use changes are and land use change? interpreted and understood and acted upon • How do local residents respond to changing by individuals and communities. land use/s and land use impacts? • 'Place' matters. When locals describe • In a context of changing and competing land Narrabri as a traditional and dynamic use patterns, what can governments do to agricultural region, they are also binding support the ongoing viability of rural and their own expectations of the future to that regional communities? vision of place. Any significant changes in The primary data collection occurred during land use across the Shire will transform local September and December 2015 with members places—through changes to landscapes, of the research team spending a total four weeks social networks, and local economies— in the Narrabri Shire. During these visits, the and, subsequently, alter the basis on which researchers gained further insight into the issues people’s sense of self is founded. facing the community through observations and • Water and soil sit at the top of a ‘resource casual conversations with local residents. hierarchy’ and are exalted as the most Development of this report included important resources to be protected. The desktop research and primary data collection notion of stewardship is strong amongst 7 farmers. As stewards of the land they believe diminished. Many participants, particularly it is their responsibility to protect these core farmers, believed that two sets of rules exist: resources, and contest land uses that pose a one for extractive industries and one for risk to them. everyone else. • Whilst being geographically close to a • Coordination and collaboration between the particular land use issue does often generate NSW Government and Narrabri Shire Council strong sentiments, attitudes to land use are was seen as deficient. Key stakeholders also framed by moral and socio-economic contended that Council had relatively little factors. Attempts to understand local attitudes authority or decision-making power, yet was to changing land use must acknowledge burdened with various functions that are how proximity as a spatial, moral and socio- central to the governance of new extractive economic phenomenon intertwines with an projects. Participants

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