Green light for overhead lines

HumeLink will connect Wagga Wagga, Bannaby and Maragle, and planning is well advanced.

It was the reason for the feasibility of undergrounding inquiry being established.

Deniliquin and district residents were invited, at the last minute, to have input into the inquiry because it coincided with community consultation of Transgrid’s proposed VNI West overhead transmission proposal to link Jerilderie and Kerang, via Conargo, Wanganella and Moulamein.

While the finding to continue as an overhead project does not mention any other project but HumeLink, there are concerns it sets a precedent that will be used to justify doing the same with VNI West.

Independent Member for Murray Helen Dalton slammed the finding, arguing that key evidence has “just been ignored”.

“Even before this inquiry began, (NSW Premier) Chris Minns had already said on Sydney radio that undergrounding these power lines would be too expensive,” she said.

“Now we have an inquiry report that recommends exactly what the Premier wanted all along.

“International best practice shows these power lines must be put under the ground.”

“We all know the dangers of bushfires caused by overground power lines.

“They start fires, and what’s more, firefighting rules say that fires cannot be fought in areas where these power lines are situated. Are we seriously meant to sit back and watch our farms burn?

“Overhead power lines also destroy productive agricultural land, they make it dangerous for light aircraft and are a scar on rural landscapes.

“Not only that, many environmental groups object to overground power lines also.

“The unspoken threat of this project is that land will be acquired at the point of a gun through compulsory acquisitions if agreements for purchase can’t be reached with affected farmers. Some of whom farm on properties that have been in their families for generations.”

Inquiry panel member and Nationals Upper House member Wes Fang - who was duty MLC for our region under the previous Coalition government - told the Pastoral Times he felt the finding went against most of the evidence heard during the hearings in Deni and other locations.

“I have never seen an inquiry so one sided,” he said.

“While VNI West was not the focus of the inquiry, by extension you could conclude that if the government agrees it is too expensive for HumeLink to be underground, it will be the same for others.”

Fellow inquiry panel member Cate Faehrmann, from The Greens, is calling for a select committee to be established “that is not dominated by government members, to examine this important issue more thoroughly and genuinely”.

Mr Fang said he supports the decision.

Community consultation on the proposed VNI West draft corridor report closes this Friday. To learn more about the report, or to make a submission, go to www.transgrid.com.au/projects-innovation/vni-west.