A Review of Community Concerns about Onshore Gas Development: Challenges and Opportunities

This report reviews societal concerns related to onshore gas development, drawing on the literature on coal seam gas development in Australia and shale gas development in Northern America. A companion report reviews technologies and processes associated with extracting onshore gas (Hodgkinson et al., 2015). It is important to note that community perceptions of an industry, such as unconventional gas, or activities around the industry may not reflect scientific knowledge on the topic. Nonetheless, Australian and US experiences suggest that public and community concerns cannot be ignored if public trust and acceptance of onshore gas development is to be ensured. The report focuses primarily on issues raised by communities directly affected by gas development; however, it also briefly discusses concerns prevalent in the wider public discussion about onshore gas development. Concerns expressed by communities have been discussed under six main topics: water, health, landowner concerns, local infrastructure and facilities, economic changes, and community changes. The concerns discussed under each topic sometimes overlap others, reflecting some interdependencies among the topics. This allows each topic to be read as a standalone section.