The final Berejiklian government moves before entering caretaker mode included easing the way for a gas pipeline to the proposed Narrabri coal seam gasfield and easing the rules of clearing native vegetation.

Planning Minister Anthony Roberts retrospectively extended the approval process for the Hunter-Queensland gas pipeline despite consent for the pipeline officially lapsing 17 days earlier. The extension is for a year.

A last-minute change clears the way for a gas pipeline to Narrabri if a coal seam gas field ever secures formal approval. Credit:Bloomberg

The change - which also extended the approval process for a coal-fired power plant expansion and two gas ones - was "an underhanded move" that left landholders in limbo with the threat from CSG in north-west NSW, said Georgia Woods, a spokeswoman for activist group Lock The Gate.

"To have the Planning Minister making retrospective changes to regulation for the benefit of the gas industry is bitterly disappointing," she said.