Nannas charged after CSG protest in NSW

Three "grannies" have been charged after chaining themselves by the neck to a coal seam gas wastewater plant gate in northern NSW.

Three women from "Knitting Nannas" anti-CSG group locked themselves on Monday morning onto the gates of the Santos Leewood Water treatment plant south of Narrabri, which will support 850 CSG wells above the Great Artesian Basin.

Up to 60 anti-CSG demonstrators joined the women on site at 7am.

Seventy-year-old Angela Dalu from NSW's Northern Rivers region, Gloucester resident Dominique Jacobs, 51, and Lismore resident Theresa Mason, 48, were removed with bolt-cutters just after 9am.

They were later charged with obstructing traffic and failure to comply with police direction.

The women did not resist arrest, local police said.

All three "Nannas" can be seen in photographs knitting while enchained.

"I've never been involved in protests in my life before the coal seam gas threat came to my home town of Gloucester," said Ms Jacobs, a mother of seven.

"As a mother I cannot stand back and let this destructive industry roll out across our state."

Knitting Nannas spokeswoman Letitia Kemister said the group would protest "every single day" until the project is halted.

She said the Basin and surrounding agricultural land would be protected at all costs.

"If we put 850 gas wells into the region, we're going to have a methane mess," Ms Kemister said on Monday.

Knitting Nannas co-founder Clare Twomey said the act of knitting was intended to show the group's sense of maternal nurturing.

"We really needed a vehicle for women who wanted to do something for the (anti-CSG) movement," Ms Twomey said.

She said people of all ages were welcome to join the group.

Santos' general manager of Energy in NSW Peter Mitchley said the company was confident its project retained full community support.

"More than 85 per cent of the landholders within our project are supportive of our work and local community groups including the Narrabri Chamber of Commerce and Yes2Gas have also voiced their support publicly," Mr Mitchley said.

"It is therefore unfortunate that a few protesters are claiming to speak on behalf of the local community."

Mr Mitchley said the company had acquired all necessary approvals to safely extract gas.