Santos has authority to survey the Hunter Gas Pipeline

Minister Kean announced he had signed off on the ATS on January 13, drawing criticism from organisations like Lock The Gate Alliance, who says in doing so Mr Kean has trashed his government's vaunted climate credentials and (had) enraged hundreds of farmers.

A spokesperson from Santos said it had received a letter from Minister Matt Kean approving its September 12, 2022, application for an ATS for the pipeline.

"The approval of the ATS means we can now complete the ecological and cultural heritage surveys required along the pipeline route," the spokesperson said.

"Traditional owners are fully involved in cultural heritage surveys, a long-standing practice followed by Santos in our onshore operations around Australia.

"While the pipeline route is being finalised to avoid ecologically and culturally significant areas, we will work with landholders to obtain access and compensation agreements before making a pipeline licence application to Minister Kean."

The ATS allows Santos to access properties where reasonable attempts to negotiate access with the landholder or resident have been unsuccessful.

However, Santos says it will only be used as a last resort in the few cases where it has yet to be successful in contacting landholders or reaching an access agreement.

The decision came just weeks after farmers and Lock The Gate Alliance supporters travelled to Sydney to stage a protest outside Mr Kean's electoral office and demanded he reject the ATS.

A petition opposing the pipeline signed by more than 200 landholders along the route was also presented.

"The damage this high-pressure pipeline would do to some of NSW's richest farming country is immense," said Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord spokesperson and cattle farmer, Margaret Fleck.

"Matt Kean's support for Santos shows his disdain for the hundreds of farmers who are opposed to the project and exposes his hypocrisy on climate concerns.

"Santos and the Perrottet Government will find that opposition to this pipeline in our region is not going away, and farmers will not back down."

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She said the gas pipeline would threaten precious black soils on the NSW Liverpool Plains as well as several of the most significant koala habitats in the state.

"Governments should be cracking down on gas cartel operators like Santos and its corporate profiteering, not paving the way for them to do more damage," Ms Fleck said.

Santos stated that 100 per cent of Narrabri gas would go to the domestic market, putting downward pressure on prices.

Santos said it was continuing to work with the NSW and federal governments to get all the approvals required to clear the way for both the Narrabri Gas Project and the Hunter Gas Pipeline.

The alliance said studies have shown in addition to destroying some of the best farmland in NSW, the Hunter Gas Pipeline would also carve through important cultural heritage sites and critically important ecological areas, including koala habitat.