Hepburn Shire Council, Media Release, 7 May 2026
AusNet has formally applied to the Victorian Government to compulsorily acquire easements from Victorian farmers to build the Western Renewables Link (WRL) transmission line before the Environmental Effects Statement (EES) is completed.
The Victorian Government has recently introduced legislation allowing energy companies to compulsorily acquire private land for transmission lines before the necessary environmental assessments have been completed.
The move would see AusNet and the WRL project heavily advanced if the EES is successful.
Mayor, Councillor Tony Clark, said that this is a terrible move by AusNet and is an insult to those who have worked hard to provide evidence-based submissions.
“If the Victorian Government grant AusNet compulsory acquisition powers before the outcome of the EES, landholders and community are not only disrespected, but it also questions the EES process,” he said.
“We know that AusNet has already contacted landowners, urging them to sign voluntary agreements by the end of September while they seek additional acquisition powers from the government.”
“The move has left many of us and our community feeling that the EES process is a tick the box exercise designed to distract while AusNet makes calculated moves to advance the project.”
Council has stood alongside the Hepburn Shire community in opposition to this project from the very start. A community working group was established five years ago to collaboratively review the WRL project and assess its potential impacts on the Shire’s community.
In December last year, Council concluded its submission to the project hearing process by presenting experts on tourism, agriculture, land values, biodiversity, habitat, mental health and wellbeing, roads and infrastructure and bushfire risk.
Council respects the roles of the Western Renewables Link Advisory Committee and the Minister for Planning in the EES process and will heed any decisions made. However, Council also expects AusNet, VicGrid and the government to show the same level of respect for the process.
Council calls upon the government to make no decision on AusNet’s compulsory acquisition powers until the EES decision is handed down.
