MAKE no mistake, if a gas field is approved over the Surf Coast Shire it will industrialise the region.

The economics of unconventional gas are pretty simple; once approval for a commercial gas field is granted, the company needs to extract as much gas as possible to maximise its return on investment.

That typically means thousands, potentially tens of thousands of wells, as we see with coal seam gas in Queensland or shale and tight gas fields in the United States.

Every one of those wells is connected with access roads and pipelines, interspersed with compressor stations, holding ponds for toxic water and other heavy industrial infrastructure. Will tourists to the region really want to visit a gas field?