Powerline compensation ‘an insult’

A community alliance has reacted with outrage to the State Government’s announcement of plans to compensate landowners for hosting overhead power lines.

Last week the State Government announced it would pay landholders “a standard rate of $8,000 per year per kilometre of transmission hosted for 25 years”, with first payments to go to landowners who host easements along the selected VNI West and Western Renewables Link transmission corridors.

“These new payments acknowledge the hugely important role landholders play in hosting critical energy infrastructure – a key part of Victoria’s renewables revolution,” Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, said.

”We want to get the process for planning and approving new infrastructure right, so we can make sure the renewables revolution is a shared, equitable legacy for all Victorians.”

But the Stop AusNet’s Towers group, which has been fighting proposals to put the Western Renewables Link overhead, says the process, and the new compensation plan, have been anything but right.

Spokesperson for the group, Emma Muir, said the State Government’s compensation plan was essentially “buy[ing] our silence for a fraction of the loss”.

“This compensation is an insult. We estimated the impact may be as great as ten times this amount, but no amount of money will protect the community from the threat of bushfire, save our farms from devastation or stop the loss of our precious environment and landscapes,” Ms Muir said.

“This project will deliver significant impact and risk including direct and long-term impact on agriculture production, tourism related industries and on property values that far exceed the out of touch compensation on offer. Our community is not for sale. The compensation plan is an ill-conceived PR stunt that attempts to divert people away from the many impactful issues of the proposed project.”

Ms Muir said the compensation offer was “the equivalent of a residential property owner being offered $48 per year to relinquish the entire use of their land and house”.

“This ill-timed messaging has once again diverted issues way from the massive risks this project will bring to the region, the Government are well aware of the heightened bushfire risk of placing these towers adjacent and through densely populated bush, this project will leave the government with blood on its hands,” she said.

“How can the Government, that is espousing a dire need to address climate change issues introduce this dangerous infrastructure into a highly sensitive environment that will ultimately result in loss of life?

“Victorians deserve a renewable energy future that is founded on innovative, reliable and scalable technology, because we do not want to see our energy future disabled with outdated and dangerous technology like the WRL.”

The State Government says its Victorian Transmission Investment Network (VTIF), which closed for submissions on 15 August last year, “is designed to give Traditional Owners, local communities and key stakeholders a real voice in the development of new infrastructure so that impacts can be better managed and benefits can be realised.”

To view the VTIF consultation report, visit engage.vic.gov.au/victorian-transmission-investment-framework.