Substation to be built at York Street

A THRTY million-dollar zone substation planned by electricity company Powercor is set to be built on York Street in Ballarat East despite residents’ efforts to prevent the move.

As part of the plan a community benefits package is set to be provided that may include payments for directly affected neighbours, a rooftop solar fund, or spending on parks in the area.

“We know this news will be disappointing for some people in the neighbourhood, but we genuinely want to work with the community as we plan and build this new facility,” said Powercor head of network planning Andrew Dinning.

“This zone substation is critical to supporting the city’s growth and keeping power safe and reliable, particularly as more people electrify their homes and transport.”

Jenny Carter has lived on Larter Street, around the corner from the proposed site, for 42 years, and has spoke about the issue at multiple council meetings.

“We went to the council hoping they would advocate for our community because we have no other recourse available to us,” she said.

“This is the third time we’ve been to council, and as mayor Des Hudson said at the meeting on 22 November, Powercor have been disingenuous with council, and they certainly have with our community.

Ms Carter has safety concerns about a potential substation after a fire at a facility in Yallah last year.

“It should also be known that a massive fire at a substation in Yallah, New South Wales, destroyed the whole structure,” she said.

“People in nearby houses were told to stay away and shut their windows but there were no houses nearby.

“Our whole neighbourhood would need to be evacuated, bearing in mind the houses that back onto the block are around 60 years old, and most of them are weatherboard.”

While the City of Ballarat has no control over planning for the substation, at their July meeting all councillors endorsed a statement saying they did not support the location.

“Although the City of Ballarat is not the public land manager for the proposed substation site, in accordance with the resolution from the July Council Meeting, officers have been liaising with Powercor, advocating for continued community engagement on behalf of the York Street residents and maintaining a preference for exploring an alternative location,” said mayor Cr Des Hudson.

Residents only became aware of Powercor’s plans earlier this year when they saw soil testing being conducted at the site and began to make enquiries.

Ms Carter said that while Powercor did visit houses in the area following this, they only visited 12 homes and gave no warning they were coming.

“Lots of people were simply not home or didn’t answer the door,” she said.

“We have no idea of dimensions, height, noise pollution, access around the facility or the impact on Pennyweight Gully.”

Looking for a way forward, resident Annette, who withheld her last name, did her own research and proposed six alternative locations away from housing on crown land.

A petition by Annette, which contains more than 160 signatures, was set to be tabled at the December council meeting but was undercut by the electricity providers announcement.

Powercor will be holding two community information sessions on Saturday 2 December from 10am until 1pm and on Wednesday 6 December from 4pm until 7pm at the Sovereign Park York Conference Room.