Gloucester Gas Project

After announcing its departure from the region, AGL established a $2 million Independent Community Legacy Fund to contribute to sustainable economic development, education and employment to the greater Gloucester region.

Location

The project is located near Stratford, approximately 100 kilometres north of Newcastle, in the Gloucester region of New South Wales.

In February 2016, AGL announced it would not proceed with the Gloucester Gas Project. Since then, AGL has rolled-out an extensive decommissioning and rehabilitation program for its well sites and other infrastructure.

Latest update

The Gloucester Independent Community Legacy Fund was established following AGL's announced departure from the region. The fund's independent panel has since allocated approximately $1.8 million toward the sustainable economic benefit of the greater Gloucester region. With the money remaining in the Fund, AGL is running a final round of funding.

Community complaints and enquiries

If you would like to get in contact about the Gloucester Gas Project, please feel free to contact us via the following channels:

AGL Community Complaints & Enquiries Hotline: 1800 039 600

Email: AGLCommunity@agl.com.au

Mail: AGL Community Complaints & Enquiries, Locked Bag 1837, St Leonards NSW 2065

You can find out more about how AGL engages with the community here.

In this section

Community engagement
Community fund
Grants

Community engagement

To help create ongoing economic benefits to the Gloucester region we have established the $2 million Gloucester Independent Community Fund.

You can view archived Community Consultative Committee documents in the Documents Tab above.

Gloucester Independent Community Legacy Fund

The Panel has allocated approximately $1.8 million toward the creation of more than 70 full-time equivalent sustainable jobs in the Gloucester community and is funding training and education outcomes including a STEM program at the local High Schools in the region.

Grants announced

On 1 September 2017, AGL Head of Government and Community Relations Tony Chappel announced that over 70 new jobs have now been created in the Gloucester region, with support from AGL’s Gloucester Independent Community Legacy Fund.

AGL has now provided over $1.8 million in grants from the Fund, to 11 successful applicants, including:

GW & KW Forbes – 5 new jobs
The GW & KW Forbes dairy is a local family farming business. Support from the Fund is expanding the operation, allowing for milking of an additional 800 cows.
Hunter Special Vehicles – 2 new jobs
Hunter Special Vehicles has been operating in the Gloucester region for over 23 years. Support from the Fund will assist with expansion plans and improve staff training.
Avon Valley Inn – 4 new jobs
The Avon Valley Inn has been in operation for over 100 years in the main street of Gloucester. Support from the Fund will assist with construction of a new function centre called the Avon Terrace.
Fox Den Café – 2 new jobs
The Fox Den Café is a local café on the main street of Gloucester. Support from the Fund will assist with expanding and upgrading the kitchen and installation of pizza ovens.
Lone Pine Dairy – 2 new jobs
The Lone Pine Dairy farm is a 100-year-old 4th generation local dairy farm. Support from the Fund will be used for capital expansion projects.
Gloucester High School
The Gloucester High School is a comprehensive school of approximately 360 students. Support from the Fund is being used to create a STEM Pipeline Program, and enhance the existing links between local industry, business and schools.

With the money remaining in the Fund, AGL will soon run a final round, and we encourage local organisations to apply for support.

The Gloucester Independent Community Legacy Fund has also supported the following organisations:

Bercol Logging Pty Limited – 10 new jobs
Drifta Camping Kitchens Pty Limited – 20 new jobs
Gloucester Pre-School – 14 new jobs
Leveltec Engineering Pty Limited – 9 new jobs
Woven Image Pty Limited – 3 new jobs

In this section

Rehabilitation
Water management
Waukivory Pilot Program

Rehabilitation

Following AGL's announced departure from the Gloucester region, AGL commenced an extensive decommissioning and rehabilitation program for its well sites and other infrastructure in the Gloucester region.

When a coal seam gas well is no longer required, it must be decommissioned and the site fully rehabilitated.

Learn more

Water management

AGL understands that protecting Gloucester’s water resources is our biggest responsibility. That’s why we undertook comprehensive water research and monitoring – by our in-house expert hydrogeologists and by independent water scientists.

Monitoring program (ongoing)

AGL's water monitoring program describes the water level and water quality results from our extensive monitoring network. You can view these reports in the Document Tab above.

Waukivory Pilot Program

The Waukivory Pilot Program gathered data from four natural gas wells drilled in 2012 at two properties near Forbesdale. The wells were drilled into the deep coal seams hundreds of metres below the surface and completely sealed off from surrounding rock layers and beneficial aquifers. This information demonstrated how much water is produced from the coal seams, assessed the natural gas potential of the wells and determined the impact (if any) on overlying groundwater systems.

Following a review of the Waukivory Pilot gas flow data, economic modelling of gas reserves and market conditions, AGL announced on 4 February 2016 that it will not proceed with the Gloucester Gas Project.

You can view reports associated with Waukivory Pilot Program in the Document tab above.