Bev McArthur, Member for Western Victoria, Media Release, 30 March 2021
Deep anger, fear and resentment has been exposed during the first public meeting at Newlyn to discuss the proposed Western Victorian Transmission Network.
Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, was among the 250 people to attend last night.
Residents heard from leading locals and experts on the process, easement restrictions, the terminal station, land acquisition and valuations and the potential for underground power alternatives.
Mrs McArthur said Newlyn residents are united in their opposition to the 190km transmission line.
“The message was very clear: they don’t want this massive project destroying their prime farm and tourism operations. The only option they will accept is underground,” Mrs McArthur said.
She told the meeting that the line is an Andrews Government afterthought having already approved renewable energy projects across the state that now sit as stranded assets.
“It looks like this project was designed at a desk in Melbourne, using a map, a ruler and the least possible ink with absolutely no understanding of how it will impact local regional communities.”
The meeting heard that the 500KV towers would be as tall as MCG light towers and the smaller towers the height of the West Gate Bridge. The proposed terminal station would be 19,000m2, 19 hectares, or 10 times the size of the MCG.
A member of the Clarke’s Hill and District Powerlines group said “this will be an enormous heaving monster in the middle of our entire district’.
The Western Victorian project is earmarked as the first of eight across Australia, including Victorian Government plans to ‘grid the state’.
“Locals are very alert that the fight for their rights and livelihoods is being watched by communities across the nation. These residents are setting the precedent,” Mrs McArthur said.
“They are doing it with facts over fiction, a determination to fight fair – and for fair.
“There is evidence elsewhere in Victoria that underground cabling is possible. All options need to be considered in this project, not what’s easiest for AEMO, AusNet or the State Government,” Mrs McArthur said.
Farmers told the meeting that the proposed easement impacts on farming could devastate local producers including the local $150 million potato industry, the $73 million beef industry and the sheep meat and wool industry worth $359 million.
Tourism representatives highlighted their personal fears and the potential impact on the UNESCO World Heritage bid for the Goldfield’s region.
“If the towers proceed, compensation is only paid to those upon whose land the towers and its 100 metre wide easement are placed.
“There is nothing to those whose picturesque and peaceful views are destroyed, or whose land values are decimated because they live on the other side of the fence.”
Mrs McArthur followed up Monday’s meeting with a visit on Tuesday to affected farming families in the Myrniong area. She saw at first hand the concerns raised at the meeting, including the damage the proposed powerlines would do to the productive land and beautiful natural environment.
