Dubbo City Council is calling on residents to make submissions as it looks to form a policy on mining in the region, including the possible future extraction of coal seam gas.
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A draft strategy will be on display for the next month and council is encouraging everyone to provide their feedback.
Two members of the public addressed councillors at Monday night's Planning and Development Committee meeting to express their disapproval of CSG extraction.
Coonamble resident Anne Kennedy, the president of the Great Artesian Basin supporters group, attended the meeting to urge councils to follow in the footsteps of other councils who have declared their shires gasfield-free.
"Because of experience of Queensland, we have a lot of data coming through. Tonnes of nitrous acid and oxide are coming into the air. Fifty-eight councils to date have expressed concern or declared an outright moratorium and I'm asking Dubbo council to do the same, at least until they can show us evidence to the contrary," she said.
Local businessman Mike Parish said any CSG mining in Dubbo would have an economic benefit for approximately 20 years but any environmental fallout would last indefinitely.
"You have a well every 750 metres and they are going through aquifers. Coming from a livestock background, I can't see how fracking and the structures that go down would have no affect on aquifers. It will have quite a big environmental and social impact," Mr Parish said.
He questioned how allowing coal seam gas mining in NSW would help to keep prices low, suggesting companies would be far more likely to export to nations where gas prices are higher than settle for a low price locally.
Councillors will wait until the draft policy has been displayed and submissions received before making a decision but Councillor Ben Shields indicated he is wary about the possibility of coal seam gas mining in the area.
"I'm a big supporter of Australia's mining industry, it brings a hell of a lot of jobs to Australia and makes it a much richer country but I'm also a bigger supporter of Australia's agricultural sector and Australia's sustainability," Cr Shields said.
"I tend to agree with these guys [Ms Kennedy and Mr Parish]. There's clearly some problems."
DCC director of environmental services Melissa Watkins said while Dubbo council could take a no-CSG stance and advise that the community doesn't want it, both the state and federal governments were able to ignore that stand.
