A lecturer from the Southern Cross University's School of Law and Justice says Bentley has joined the list of historic environmental protests.

Aiden Ricketts is also a member of Gasfield Free Northern Rivers.

He says last week's decision to suspend Metgasco's licence was a reaction to broad community opposition.

Mr Ricketts says Bentley can now be mentioned alongside campaigns such Terania Creek and the Franklin River.

"It's bigger in some ways than either of those other two because in both of those situations the protesters didn't necessarily have the support of the entire community," he said.

"This time around the support of the entire community was absolutely obvious, or 87 or 90 per cent of the community at least.

"Right down to the fact that the police recognised that level of community support, and even then police were quite reluctant about moving against that community.

"Normally when (governments) choose a reason to back out they come up with just a procedural defect or something.

"But in this case it was about, however you put it whether it's a failure of community consultation or the size of the community resistance, I think ultimately it amounts to the same thing."

The New South Wales State Library is keen to collect memorabilia from the Bentley protest.

Mitchell librarian Richard Neville says it is an issue worth preserving for future generations.

"It was something that we felt we should approach, and obviously the Bentley blockade is one of the most high-profile cases of protest about this issue," he said.

"It certainly fits in with other areas of our collecting.

"We have a lot of material in the library about the Franklin Dam protest.

"Sort of alternative movements, social protest movements are certainly things we're interested in collecting."

