The Hon. Wendy Lovell, Liberal Member for Northern Victoria, Media Release, 30 July 2025
Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has called on the Minister for Energy and Resources to reconsider the size and location of the Central North Renewable Energy Zone.
Following the recent release of the draft Victorian Transmission Plan for public consultation, numerous objections have been raised by community members and local government regarding the zone’s location, which overlaps significantly with high-quality agricultural land that is essential for food production in Victoria.
The draft plan claims to minimise impact on agricultural land, and acknowledges that due to the complexity of irrigation infrastructure across the district, the area is much less suitable to have co-located wind and solar infrastructure.
Nevertheless, the draft plan still chooses to include irrigated farmland within the Central North REZ, to give renewable energy developers “more options for future project investigations.”
Community members expressed concern that covering the area with renewable energy projects will reduce land values without fair compensation, increase biosecurity risks, and interrupt livestock movement and business operations.
Campaspe Shire Council also noted that the draft plan conflicts with council planning schemes and strategic documents prepared by the municipality to protect landscape values, economic opportunities, biodiversity, and threatened species.
Last year Ms Lovell asked the government to replace the current 1km turbine setback requirement with a 2km buffer zone between wind turbines and homes, as residents are worried that new taller wind turbines will disturb the peace and quiet of their rural communities by casting noise and shadow flicker much further than before.
But the Minister replied to say that the “government is not currently reviewing this requirement.”
How can affected communities believe that the consultation process is being carried out in good faith when the government has already refused to consider the demand for a larger buffer zone?
Ms Lovell spoke in parliament yesterday to call on the Minister for Energy to seriously consider the feedback provided by the local community and municipality regarding the Central North REZ, and address their concerns with the size and location of the zone, and its misalignment with existing land uses and planning commitments.
Comments attributable to Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell:
“Victoria’s valuable agricultural land must be protected, not vandalised by Labor’s rushed industrial energy infrastructure rollout.”
“The consultation process for this transmission plan has been a box-ticking exercise designed to pre-empt and ignore community objections. The Minister must go back to the drawing board, and address the concerns of local government and affected residents in the Central North Renewable Energy Zone.”
