28 October

Two issues being mixed up here? Nobody really owns the land underneath where they live, they just are given that ownership by government (i.e. from the public - it's a common resource). And there have always been restrictions on that as well - you own the surface of the land, but that doesn't mean you control everything underneath that land - you don't 'own' the land right through to the centre of the planet. Where I live has mines under many of the houses for just this reason, and most people are happy enough to accept that. Separately, coal seam gas in many situations is just a bloody stupid idea.