Marian Haddrick, The Buloke Times

VicGrid CEO Alistair Parkes met with a hundred concerned locals from Birchip and the surrounding area last Thursday at the Birchip Leisure Centre.

Birchip is in the Regional Energy Zone (REZ) that is connecting supporting transmission infrastructure from Victoria’s west in Horsham to the north of the state in Red Hills.

VicGrid was met by a contingency of tractors, utes and farm vehicles all displaying banners that expressed the group’s concerns regarding the state’s rapid industrialisation of the area.

VicGrid, a body within DEECA, co-ordinates the overarching planning and development of Victorian renewable energy zones. As part of VicGrid’s consultation process with community and landholders the company provided an information session for over 100 local residents and farmers.

The Government plans to unlock 10 GW of new renewable energy capacity in Victoria, taking the total capacity across Victorian REZs to 16 GW. This will be enabled by the Victorian Government’s $540 million REZ Fund to invest in needed REZ network infrastructure.

Concerns

VicGrid fielded questions from locals relating to their concerns about the environmental impact that transmission lines will have on vegetation and prime agricultural land. Locals are cautious about the expedited roll out of transmission lines and energy parks across the state’s wheat belt and how this will impact future food security.

Alistair Parkes was directly questioned by the community members for over three hours and participants left feeling dissatisfied with the lack of information given.

Lip service

“VicGrid calls it consultation, but it’s lip service,” said farmer Andrew Lee.

“They know exactly where they are going to put up transmission lines, but they won’t disclose anything under the guise of confidentiality agreements with energy companies. By the time they come back with concrete information then it’s a foregone conclusion; the deals will be done.”

Participants in the forum attempted to point out to Parkes that agricultural land should be protected. Julie Weir argued, “We are a highly productive farming community and there is no place here for transmission lines, wind farms or mineral sands mining.

“The government is selling the message that our region needs to do its bit in reducing carbon emissions and be the site for renewable energy production, but the numbers don’t add up. The cost of the infrastructure, both in terms of its carbon footprint, the lack of its longevity, as well as the impact on farming land make no sense.”

Climate change

In response to how the REZ will meet carbon emission targets Alison McCowan, a local landowner, said, “Any responsible farmer is concerned with our environment’s health and the impacts of climate change. We live on and work the land. We are at the frontline of changing weather patterns. But the hypocrisy of saying that implementing these ad hoc approaches to renewable energy production is drought proofing our industry, at the expense of farmland, doesn’t sit well with this community.”

CFA statement

Local CFAs in the region issued a statement last week outlining why they will not be responding to fires caused by additional overhead power lines or other new infrastructure that is slated for the Mallee and Wimmera, such as wind and solar farms or mines.

The Wimmera Mallee is dependent on the Northern Mallee Pipeline for water supply. They have cited that there is not enough available water in contingency, or staff, to respond to any new large scale industrialisation in the area.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 24 September 2024.