transmission line

Confusion reigns amongst farmers and other landowners in southern Gippsland as the state government's new kid on the bloc, VicGrid, has pushed aside their negotiations with existing companies over the various transmission projects that will be built across the region under the government's renewable energy policy. This comes across the background of the blackouts caused by storms last week that brought down transmission lines and electricity poles that led to the closure of Loy Yang A power station.

The peak representative bodies for Tasmanian and Victorian farmers have joined forces to call for fair land access rules in the face of rapid renewable energy developments taking over prime agricultural land. TasFarmers and the VFF released the Farm Access Code of Conduct which is aimed at promoting respectful and sensible infrastructure development on agricultural land.

After 100 years of growing Australian food and fibre, and enhancing their farm’s environmental assets, the Ettershanks now face their biggest challenge, power lines. Under the recent release of Transgrid’s proposed route for the VNI West Interconnector, Simon and Carly Ettershank’s 2,000-hectare property now has twenty 75-80-metre-tall towers across their home.  

The Reckless Renewables Rally brought to together 116 regional community groups with a message for Federal politicians to suspend their reckless rollout ... ‘People living in our cities are being deceived. Rural and regional communities are being socially fractured, divided up and hollowed out by our own government and their energy corporation’s working in unison with home grown renewables zealots and foreign renewable energy company carpetbaggers’: Chairman of PRA Jim Willmott.

As Australians were stocking fridges and checking gas bottles before Australia Day, local farmers were receiving word that the towering transmission lines would carve through their properties. One farmer said it was the first contact they had from the company, stating “no personal contact” before receiving the news that left them feeling “side swiped.”

The State Government’s reckless rush to renewables is threatening Australia’s energy grid and the livelihoods of farmers and their communities, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says. In its draft 2024 Integrated System Plan (ISP) … (AEMO) has brought forward the expected exit of the network’s coal-fired power stations to 2038 - five years earlier than the 2022 ISP.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is concerned not enough is being done to protect the rights of landholders when it comes to the development and operation of transmission lines across farmland … newly released Land Access Code of Practice falls short of offering farmers the protections they need.

Energy leader, RWE Renewables Australia, has announced details of a generous local Community Benefit Fund for the Campbells Bridge Wind Farm, if the project proceeds to operations ... Funding will be calculated at $3,200 per megawatt of project capacity.  

The Southern Wimmera Renewables Research Association (SWRRA) formed in response to the announcement of plans for a wind facility at Campbells Bridge ... The association, made up by farmers and residents from the Southern Mallee, aims to accumulate and communicate information relating to the government’s plans for Renewable Energy (RE) within the region and the potential impacts, so that affected communities are adequately informed.