Residents and business owners in Hunter Valley reiterated its call for the New South Wales (NSW) government to ring fence the region from coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and production.

The call was made again with the approach of the renewal deadline for Petroleum Exploration Licenses (PEL) in the region. It was made by the Hunter Valley Protection Alliance (HVPA) and the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association (HVWIA).

PELs are renewed every six years. The NSW Petroleum Act of 1991 specifies that the area of the PEL for renewal must not exceed 75 per cent of the area currently being explored. AGL's PEL 267 would lapse on Jan 19, 2012.

The two groups asked NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to remove viticultural lands and tourism regions from existing PELs similar to actions taken by the state government of South Australia and Western Australia. The move seeks to protect and maintain the integrity, landscape and global reputation of winegrowing areas in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Value and Margaret River.

"The HVPA and HVWLA recognise the need to explore alternative energy supplies, however, we're vehemently opposed to the incursion of this type of land use into the iconic Hunter Valley winery area," HVPA spokesperson Stewat Ewen said in a statement.

He added that the renewal of the AGL's PEL is a good opportunity for NSW to remove the winegrowing, prime agriculture and tourism areas with the 25 per cent area.

The two groups cited the negative impact of CSG mining on land use and its threat to the valley's tourism trade worth $1.8 billion by attracting at least 3 million visitors yearly.

Mr Ewen pointed out that before the NSW state election, several politicians including Mr O'Farrell, got reassurance that the state would protect Hunter Valley from CSG if they win the election. He called on the state leader to keep their election promise.

"It is crucial to retain a balance when it comes to land use, and current viticulture, agriculture, horse breeding and tourism cannot operate effectively if their existing environment is invaded by a network of gas wells, depositories and transport routes carving up the local landscape," Mr Ewen stressed.

Due to the controversy generated by the CSG sector, the Australian government ordered the setting up of a new, independent expert scientific committee to study the impact of mining and CSG extraction on agricultural and environmental resources.

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