Transmission Company Victoria, The Buloke Times

Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) has actioned stakeholder feedback on Land Access Agreement (LAA) payments, increasing the payment to landholders who provide larger areas for survey areas.

Landholders can discuss land access agreements for VNI West, which start at $10,000 to a maximum $50,000, with their dedicated landholder liaison officers.

TCV spokesperson, Claire Cass, said the change in the LAA payment reflects the project’s ongoing engagement with landholders who communicated the potential impost of survey access on their time.

“These payment changes acknowledge the administrative and time impost for landholders with larger properties, when they are negotiating and providing survey access for their land,” she said.

Voluntary Agreements

“We are entering voluntary land access agreements with landholders across the ~2km VNI West draft corridor, outlining the terms and conditions for TCV to carry out field surveys on their land.

“The surveys are important to confirm the condition and environmental sensitivities of the land, and to enable us to reduce potential impacts of the project to people and farming.

“Total payments per property will now increase where access to a larger area of land is provided.

“Land access payments now range from $10,000 to $50,000 per property. The change is retrospective, and landholders who have already entered a LAA may be eligible for additional payments dependent on the access area already agreed to.

“No landholders will receive less compensation because of this change. Our team of landholder liaisons championed this change, and they are the best point of contact for landholders to understand how these payments apply to them.”

Caveat

Where a LAA payment exceeds $30,000, TCV will look to register a caveat on the property title. The purpose of the caveat is to ensure that any new property owners are notified about TCV’s interest in the property. This caveat will not provide TCV with any additional rights outside of the agreed LAA and will expire at the end of the agreed LAA term. This caveat will only come into effect if the land changes hands.

The LAA covers access for field surveys works only; it does not commit a landholder to having transmission infrastructure on their land or indicate endorsement of the VNI West project.

Land access payments are for field studies only. If a property is eventually confirmed as the location for the final easement, a separate process of negotiation will be undertaken for an “Option for Easement” agreement, which will include the amount of compensation and the terms for land access for VNI West construction and ongoing operations.

Further information regarding the VNI West Land Access Agreements can be found in our Landholder Guide and on the TCV website at transmissionvictoria.com.au

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 17 May 2024.