Carey Brennan, The Buloke Times
Tuesday night’s VicGrid Community Reference Group meeting of impacted farmers, council officers and VicGrid employees was disrupted by around 60 farmers and concerned community members at Charlton Park.
Claire Flanagan-Smith, of RMG Consulting, chairing the meeting, called a halt to proceedings and refused to let it continue with the farmers present. She said the meeting was closed to the public and while the minutes would be available on the VicGrid website, the April meeting minutes had not yet been ratified as it was to be done at the end of the meeting, which had just been stopped.
Mick Douge, Project Manager of VicGrid, and a number of VicGrid employees, did not answer the farmer’s questions and adjourned to a back room of the Charlton Park precinct, although Mick later emerged and spoke briefly to Ben Duxson and James Burke, two farmers directly impacted by VNI West transmission towers.
Community representatives, only five being farmers themselves, say their concerns are not being adequately addressed at the CGR meetings and describe the process as extremely frustrating. Concerns raised have included fire safety, biosecurity, public liability insurance, workplace safety and environmental destruction.
Security employed by VicGrid were on site but made no attempt to stop the crowd present from entering the meeting. Police from Donald and Wycheproof arrived at VicGrid’s insistence. It is believed by some present that this was done to create a perception of “angry threatening farmers” being a danger to the VicGrid employees. Farmers say this is not accurate, and that protests so far have been peaceful, with many attending catching up with their neighbours and friends for a chat and a laugh at being out in the cold on a weeknight.
Despite some farmers being included in the Community Reference Group, there are major concerns among some landowners that VicGrid is misrepresenting their views. Offers of increased landowner payments have been refused, as farmers say this is not about the money, but the destruction of prime agricultural privately-owned farmland and the livelihoods of the farmers who live and work there.
Some farmers believe there is no transparency with the workings of the VNI West transmission project, citing closed meetings, unanswered questions and concerns they say have not been addressed. This is why many landowners between Stawell and Kerang have refused to sign agreements with VicGrid and continue to fight to protect their land.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 18 June 2026.
