'Energy has to come from somewhere': Farmer would welcome gas drilling

Dairy farmer Simon Gleeson remembers the non-stop "noise pollution" the onshore gas well generated – an industrial rumble that was audible from inside his house 24 hours a day.

Farmer Simon Gleeson said he would be open to gas exploration on his land.

There were truck movements on his property at daytime, loud crashes of machinery and a tall tower that stood out in the skyline where the well had been drilled just 400 metres from his home.

But Mr Gleeson said he wouldn’t hesitate to say yes if someone came knocking on his front door again tomorrow asking to search for gas on his farmland.

“No one wants a hole drilled in their farm but we’re not the type of people that say ‘not in our backyard’ either; energy has got to come from somewhere,” Mr Gleeson said.

Victoria is preparing to open up more than 1300 kilometres of western Victorian coastal waters and coastline to offshore gas exploration in February, including the possibility of drilling for offshore gas from onshore.

Read the story by Adam Carey and Benjamin Priess from The Age -  “'Energy has to come from somewhere': Farmer would welcome gas drilling.”