presently being replaced between Wagga and Young.

Many local residents who have travelled between Cootamundra and Wagga would have noticed workers on site and the vast area which has already been completed.

Contractors are currently on site either side of Bethungra laying the pipes.

Work began on the pipeline at Bomen, near Wagga and will continue until an area seven kilometres north of Bethungra.

The project is being undertaken by APA Group, considered one of Australia’s leading gas transportation infrastructure businesses.

A spokesperson for APA Group, Chris Kotsaris said work on the pipeline is expected to be finalised by the end of next month, weather permitting.

Ms Kotsaris said the pipeline is a duplication of an existing pipeline and is being built to expand the capacity of the line.

The Wagga to Young stretch is part of a larger pipeline which extends south into Victoria.

Ms Kotsaris said the new pipeline will be linked to the existing pipeline in three points.

The pipeline provides gas supply to a number of towns in the south west of the state including Cootamundra, Young, Wagga and Griffith.

The work is being undertaken by a combination of local contractors and specialist firms brought in from across the country.

With many of the specialists in the area as part of the project staying in towns along the route where the pipeline is being laid, it is expected they will provide an economic boost to the region.

Much of the pipeline lies underneath private property, with Ms Kotsaris saying the entire pipeline project has been undertaken in conjunction with landholders.

She said an easement exists meaning APA Group has access to private land where the pipeline already exists.

In order to protect the existing pipeline, APA Group has obtained permission to access a slightly larger area than that allocated by the easement, however Ms Kotsaris said landholders have been compensated for the loss of farming land rendered unavailable during the re-laying process.

She said once the work is complete APA Group will rehabilitate the land to its former state.

“This time next year, no one will be able to tell we were even in the area,” Ms Kotsaris said.

“We maintain a close relationship with all landholders,” she added.

Ms Kotsaris said that across the country APA Group has laid hundreds of kilometres of pipe, often crossing private property.