Push to exclude vineyards from gas exploration

Hundreds of hectares of prime wine producing land should be excised from gas company AGL’s exploration licence areas before they are renewed, Hunter vignerons and coal seam gas opponents say in a joint appeal. The Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association and the Hunter Valley Protection Alliance want the vineyard areas excluded if the government grants a renewal. AGL’s petroleum exploration licence area, or PEL 267, covers the wine and tourism areas of Broke Fordwich and Pokolbin and expires on January 19. AGL says it has applied for a renewal, reports The Newcastle Herald.