As powerlines rip up farming land: Food production at risk
Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister, David Littleproud, said this week that Labor’s planned 240-kilometre Victorian stretch of the VNI West powerline will rip up prime agriculture land ... Yeungroon farmer Glenden Watts said the whole project isn’t necessary ... “The route does a dog-leg into farming land, rather than the populated areas."
Community input reflected in the preferred easement for VNI West: TCV
Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) today released the preferred easement for the Victorian section of the VNI West transmission project ... 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.
Four transmission towers are up
Four transmission towers have been erected as the clean-up starts after the huge storms that have left the city in darkness ... Once all seven towers are up, the conductors will be strung and once they are clipped in and it is safe to do so, the towers will be energised, according to the Transgrid spokesman...
Urgent call to stay connected: NSW Farmers Association
Farmers have called on telecommunications providers to ensure farming communities don’t lose connectivity as the 3G network is shut down ... Telstra and Optus commenced the process of switching off their 3G networks as they transitioned to 4G and 5G networks across Australia.
Wilcannia Weir Independent Review Panel members announced
Panel members have now been appointed to lead the independent review into the Wilcannia Weir Replacement Project, marking a significant step forward in the review process. It comes following the NSW Government’s commitment to undertake a review of the Wilcannia proposed weir design.
Government seeking feedback on renewables
Amidst changes to regulations and community engagement requirements, the Queensland Government is seeking feedback on its approach to renewable energy projects ... From over 1,000 conversations during the REZ readiness assessment for the anticipated Callide Renewable Energy Zone in Central Queensland, locals showed that regional communities want greater engagement, accessible advice, real choices, clearer information...
Lovell calls for stop to solar farm in wine country
The proposed Cooba Solar Project will cover a massive 665 hectares of some of the best wine country in Victoria with 740,000 solar panels and 300 batteries the size of shipping containers. There are over 30 wineries along the Heathcote-Rochester Road that bring a constant stream of tourists to the area ... The area is prime agricultural land, with high-quality soil that is particularly suited to grape-growing ...
Gannawarra Shire pushes hard on renewables
Around 70 people attended the Gannawarra Shire Council’s (GSC) renewable energy day. The day commenced in the Kerang Memorial Hall … According to the figure produced by Gannawarra Shire Council, 80 farming businesses are involved in energy projects…
Street works impact on youth centre
Despite a number of delays caused by the Corryong streetscape project, the re-opening of the Youth Space in Hanson Street will go ahead tomorrow. In 2021, Upper Murray Innovation Foundation (UMIF) - the Corryong Neighbourhood Centre (CNC) Community Foundation - received a federal Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant to refurbish and re-equip the Youth Space at 42 Hanson Street.
Support to get renewables right: NSW Farmers Association
The state’s peak farm body has welcomed news that independent advice and dispute resolution services will soon be available to farming families directly impacted by the state’s renewable energy transition ... NSW Farmers Energy Transition Taskforce Chair Reg Kidd said the support had come at a critical time for regional NSW as renewable energy projects continued to be approved at a rapid pace.
Ombudsman to provide advice and dispute resolution for community members hosting renewable energy: Sharpe
For the first time, the Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW will provide impartial information and an external dispute resolution service to landholders and community members impacted by new major renewable energy transmission infrastructure and renewable energy infrastructure projects ... The Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW will provide a ‘no wrong door’ referral service for residents ...
Generators arrive to remote towns in Far West
Emily McInerney. It was announced at midday Saturday ... that power has been restored, via generator, to customers living in rural areas outside of Broken Hill, after Essential Energy completed aerial inspections of the power network and confirmed it was safe to re-energise. More than 12,000 customers were impacted by unplanned outages following a storm that moved through the area on Wednesday night, bringing down transmission towers and causing damage to the electricity network.
Albury to Illabo to enter construction phase: Inland Rail
The Albury to Illabo (A2I) section of Inland Rail will enter the construction phase after the project received NSW Government planning approval on Friday. The approval from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is a significant milestone, and opens the way for construction to begin in 2025.
Ireland calls for upgrade
The low-level classification of a road servicing traffic between Bordertown, Lucindale and Kingston will be compared with similar roads by Naracoorte Lucindale Council’s administration. This follows Cr Peter Ireland’s call for the classification of several roads, including Dickensons Rd, to be reviewed and upgraded in the council's Road and Stormwater Infrastructure Management Plan. The plan includes a road hierarchy, and the matter was raised at the council's September 10 Strategic Asset and Planning (SAP) meeting.
The race to meeting renewable energy targets should not come at any cost: VFF
The Victorian Farmers Federation is urging the Victorian Government to safeguard the state’s most strategically significant agricultural land from renewable energy development. VFF President Emma Germano said the transition to renewable energy can’t come at the cost of losing the state’s most valuable farmland.
“More than a mountain of concrete” – building Warragamba Dam
Sydney has struggled with water shortages since European settlement, relying on various schemes over the years, including the Tank Stream and Botany Swamps ... Warragamba Dam remains one of the world's largest domestic water supply dams, standing alongside iconic projects like the Opera House and the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
Government seeking feedback on renewables
Amidst changes to regulations and community engagement requirements, the Queensland Government is seeking feedback on its approach to renewable energy projects. Queensland is now over half way to the 2030 renewable energy target, with renewables generating over 27 per cent of Queensland’s energy needs.
Condamine candidates talk energy
Condamine candidates Pat Weir (LNP) and Elissa Parker (Greens) addressed an audience at an “Energy Done Right” Forum facilitated by the Darling Downs Environmental Council at The Irish Club in Toowoomba last week ... Questions focused on issues such as the expansion of coal seam gas into the Cecil Plains district.
Give more power to the people
Member for Indi, Helen Haines, has urged the federal government to help households bring down their power bills through improving access to home battery storage. Meeting with Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Josh Wilson, in Parliament this week, Dr Haines pushed for support of her Cheaper Home Batteries Bill in response to collapsing solar feed-in tariffs and the rising cost-of-living.
Gympie bypass opens to traffic: Albanese, King, Chisholm
...Gympie Bypass has opened to traffic, a significant improvement for residents with heavy vehicles no longer needing to travel through Gympie ... cuts travel times, improves motorist safety, access and flood immunity. The project has constructed a new 26-kilometres, four-lane divided highway between the existing Bruce Highway interchange at Woondum, just south of Gympie, and Curra.
Donald meeting questions Mineral Sands mining: Farmers have their say
Emotions ran high and voices rose with them at the Donald Mineral Sands community information session held at the Memorial Hall on Thursday, with a group of frustrated farmers taking the opportunity to protest one of the many large scale projects earmarked for the region. Trucks, tractors and other agricultural machinery lined the streets, signed with phrases such as: “No Mines, No Turbines, No Transmission Lines!”
“Thousands of jobs from wind tower manufacture”
Australia could create more than 4300 quality direct jobs by making its own wind towers instead of importing them, according to new research by the Centre for Future Work. At present, all wind towers installed in Australia are imported from overseas with most coming from China. Centre for Future Work’s research found a domestic wind energy sector would generate: 4,350 ongoing jobs in wind tower manufacturing, and thousands more in input industries, especially steel.
