Hearings start on controversial power link

AN Inquiry and Advisory Committee will begin a lengthy program of public hearings on the Western Renewables Link (WRL) Environment Effects Statement (EES) later this month.

The process is scheduled to start on Monday 27 October and is expected to continue into next year, and some residents of the Moorabool Shire are known to have expressed interest in having the committee visit their properties for site inspections.

Precise numbers are not yet available because the committee has not published its final timetable.

The committee will review the EES, a draft Planning Scheme Amendment GC209 to the Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Ballarat, Hepburn, Moorabool and Melton planning schemes, and public submissions.

The hearings, which will be open to the public, will hear from both proponent AusNet and people who made submissions on the EES.

They will be chaired by Planning Panels Victoria chief panel member Sarah Carlisle.

The committee will ultimately provide advice to Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny about the environmental effects of the project, construction for which is scheduled to begin late next year and which will take two years.

 

The WRL is a proposed high-voltage 190-kilometre overhead electricity transmission line from Bulgana in western Victoria to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west.

It will connect renewable energy developments in western Victoria to the grid and provide a direct connection between the New South Wales and Victorian electricity grids.

It will be able to carry more than 3000 megawatts of power and once operational will be located within an easement between 70 and 100 metres wide.

The development has attracted vigorous opposition from landowners who do not want transmission towers erected on their properties, and the Moorabool Shire Council has consistently indicated a preference for transmission lines to be underground.

Outrage has grown even further since the State Government legislated forced access to properties and heavy fines for those who resist.

A total of 534 submissions on the EES were lodged when the document was opened up for comment in June, July and August.

The committee’s webpage is at engage.vic.gov.au/western-renewables-link-IAC.