Monday, February 17, 2025

Community input reflected in the preferred easement for VNI West: TCV

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Transmission Company Victoria (TCV), Media Release, 30 October 2024

Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) today released the preferred easement for the Victorian section of the VNI West transmission project.

Over the past four weeks, TCV’s dedicated Landholder Liaisons have contacted landholders within the preferred easement as a priority, to listen to concerns, answer questions about the impact of the easement on their land and discuss the next steps.

The process to refine the initial 50km wide area of interest to a 2km draft corridor and now a 70m preferred easement has been shaped by 18 months of consultation with communities and individual landholders, along with field studies and technical and engineering assessments. This work is detailed further in the Preferred Easement Report available on the TCV website.

The preferred easement is around 70m wide along most of the route, subject to regulatory assessment under Environment Effects Statement (EES).

VNI West Program Director Tony Hedley said the public release aligns with the project’s commitment to prioritise communications with landholders with properties within the planned transmission route.

“Contacting landholders over the past few weeks has been our priority,” Mr Hedley said. “We’ve spoken with more than 180 landholders within the preferred easement and already had more than 30 follow-up meetings to answer questions on topics such as compensation, land valuation, land access, options to minimise impacts to individual farms, and to discuss the next steps.

“We have also spoken with almost 300 near neighbours that are now outside the preferred easement, but have property close by. We’ll continue to work with neighbours and landholders as we progress planning and design for the project over coming months,” he said.

TCV truly appreciates the feedback and insights provided by many people in the project area, with local knowledge important to inform the location of the preferred easement.

“From Wallaloo East to Glenloth East and north to Tragowel and Kerang, people have provided valuable local insights on a diverse range of topics, from flood-prone areas to private airstrips to endangered species habitat,” Mr Hedley said.

“This information was logged and assessed as part of the process to identify a route with the least-possible impact on land use and social, environmental and cultural heritage sensitivities.

“The release of the preferred easement provides more certainty for many people, and means we can work directly with landholders in the easement to gain a comprehensive understanding of their land, farming operations and businesses. These conversations are important to help design the project while minimising impact to each property, and to ensure all landholders receive fair and reasonable compensation.

“Engagement with neighbours and community members will also be critical as we seek to address any concerns, as we continue the work to confirm the transmission easement and finalise project design. This will include landholder group meetings, webinars and face-to-face community events such as local pop-up sessions,” he said.

TCV invites interested members of the community to attend community information sessions planned for Charlton (12 November), Kerang (13 November) and Stawell (14 November), from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. These sessions will provide an opportunity for people to find out more about the project and how to participate in the EES assessment process. Details about these events will be advertised in local papers and on the TCV website.  

To learn more about the process undertaken to narrow the route, visit the TCV website to watch our Preferred Easement Video and read the Preferred Easement Report.

Please visit transmissionvictoria.com.au for further information.  


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