New Hope wants to remove Dart chairman Nicholas Davies and non-executive directors Stephen Bizzell, Simon Poidevin and Norman Stanley.

In their place, it wants to put Stephen Lonie, Peter Forbes, Robert Neale and Cam Rathie.

New Hope chairman Robert Millner says New Hope continues to support Dart director Shaun Scott’s position on the Dart board.

Dart Energy has responded to the proposal calling it “opportunistic”

“Given that New Hope is proposing to replace 80% of the Dart board when it only owns a 16.4% interest in Dart, it is the view of the board that this is an opportunistic attempt by New Hope to take control of Dart without making a formal takeover offer to all shareholders,” the company said.

Dart said in light of recent corporate structural changes, the company was well-positioned for growth.

“The directors of Dart are disappointed that New Hope has chosen to requisition a shareholder meeting rather than to engage directly with the company in relation to the composition of the board,” the company added.

Dart said it would include the proposal at the upcoming annual general meeting scheduled for November 26.

It added it would look into the qualifications and experience of New Hope’s potential board members and would make a more detailed response once it had.

Dart may also see better times in the near future on the back of announcements by federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane that support CSG extraction in New South Wales.