THE BEST spot to watch the hundreds of people protesting mining and coal seam gas in Gunnedah was from the air.

Locals and visitors gathered in large numbers yesterday to campaign in the lead up the March 28 state election.

A prominent slogan on the day was "gasfield free", a reference to a claim from many action groups that 96 per cent of North West landholders have declared their land is off-limits to CSG.

They used their bodies to form a human sign spelling out the words ‘land and water’.

Organisers said 850 people registered on the day and estimated about 1000 people attended in total.

Among the protesters from Gilgandra, Singleton, Dubbo, Walgett, Narrabri and Uralla were Traditional Owners, farmers, conservationists and local business people.

Bundella farmer and Lock the Gate Alliance north-west co-ordinator Megan Kuhn said people wanted to protect their health, water and land.

“People in the North West of NSW emphatically reject the threat of CSG to their homes, families and communities,” Mrs Kuhn said.

“We are sick of having unwanted coal and coal seam gas mining projects forced upon us.”

The rally follows prolonged opposition from the sections of the local community to mining around farmland, largely focused on Santos’ coal seam gas project near Narrabri and Shenhua’s Watermark coal project in the Liverpool Plains.

Last week, former NSW governor Dame Marie Bashir received widespread praise for warning of the “crisis” facing Australian farmland.

The story Protest sky high at Gunnedah first appeared on Farm Online.