Powercor offers tree tips

POWERCOR staff are reminding Victorians to select the right type of tree and location for planting to protect the electricity network.

Plants which grow too close to lines can cause outages and fires and Powercor’s head of vegetation management, Ayce Cordy, encouraged people to avoid planting under powerlines.

“We work year-round managing trees and plants growing near powerlines to keep the network safe,” he said.

“A tree may look small now, but many species will grow far taller than the required clearance between branches and powerlines and could become a major safety hazard.

“It’s not just trees planted directly under powerlines either, in some cases we need to have four meters between powerlines and trees and consider species being planted to the side of powerlines too.”

Powercor has three helicopters which fly and scan the entire network using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology each year.

LiDAR measures the distance between a tree and line and informing cutting teams about where and when to cut.

“Unfortunately, we still see cases where people are choosing to plant under our lines and we will need to cut these back in the future to meet our strict clearance requirements,” Mr Cody said.

“While we will always encourage people not to plant under powerlines, if trees must be planted there, we recommend choosing low canopy species that will reach a mature maximum height of 3.5m.

“Talk to your local nursery and they can let you know what species will do well in your area and how big they’ll grow.”