Farmer suddenly finds himself in tower zone Bulldozer power ire fires VFF

By CHRIS EARL

TYLER Nelson had been following AEMO plans to string 500 kiloVolt transmission lines across land on the south of side of Boort.

He and wife Kate had made a submission during AEMO’s six-week consultation period on Option 5.

Although their Leaghur irrigation and dryland farm was outside the shaded area on AEMO’s second bid for a preferred option released in February, Trent went to one of just two Loddon pop-up consultations to learn more about what the project meant for the area.

But on Friday morning, when Option 5A was prematurely put on the government-owned energy operator’s website, Leaghur was for the first time in AEMO’s sights and the Nelson farm firmly in the map’s shaded area.

Trent and Kate had a No Go AEMO sign ready to put on the farm gate, now expecting their first contact from AEMO any day to talk about future land use and access if the final route goes through Leaghur.

“The map now is very different to what they put out before,” Trent said. “Not many people north of Boort had been engaged but now all of a sudden we’re in the mix.”

Trent said the sudden change of preferred route came with “lots of unknowns and a lack of information”.

“We have had no interaction (consultation) with AEMO ... what will this do to land values?

“We need to raise awareness around the district. People probably think these are standard powerlines, they’re not.”

Trent also questioned the speed of the VNI West process. “Nothing good comes out of a project that rushed,” he said.

And Kate questioned whether AEMO had factored in data researched by Professor Bruce Mountain who has advocated alternatives to VNI West.

“We want consultation and information,” they said.

Premier playing games with local communities: Walsh

MURRAY Plains MP Peter Walsh has demanded Premier Daniel Andrews meet Loddon communities after the weekend’s new route announcement.

“It will be the courteous and respectful thing to do ... the right thing for local people,” Mr Walsh said.

And Loddon Mayor Dan Straub, a critic of the VNI West engagement and consultation process, said he would encourage Mr Andrews to visit the region.

“He can then hear first-hand the community concerns, the pros and the cons and what the effects will be on the ground,” Cr Straub said.

Mr Walsh, who is leader of the Victorian Nationals, said the weekend’s announcement show Mr Andrews’s disdain for regional and rural Victorians “has finally gone too far”.

“The Andrews Labor government is simply riding roughshod

Walsh

over the rights of rural and regional Victorians with its battering-ram approach to the proposed Victoria-New South Wales interconnector,” he said.

Mr Walsh said the decision to drop the “out of the blue” announcement of yet another change to the path of the project to mostly metropolitan media around 5.30pm on Saturday was “an absolute disgrace”. “Have the Premier and the Government learnt nothing from all the concern and complaints about the way communication and consultation around this massive project leading up to the weekend?

“Have the Premier or the Government even stopped to consider they are playing games with people’s lives and people’s livelihoods – because that’s exactly what they are doing.

“Surely decisions of this size and importance would warrant a personal visit from the Premier so the people of regional Victoria can ask questions and get answers – but that doesn’t happen in the Andrews empire. In that world you do as you are told, when they finally get around to telling you what you will be doing.”

Mr Walsh said the Government invoking legislative powers from

THE State Government had been autocratic in giving AEMO “bulldozer powers” to push ahead without proper analysis.

Victorian Farmers’ Federation president Emma Germano on Tuesday slammed the Government steamroller approach to Loddon farmers.

Ms Germano said Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio was using “extreme powers to come over the top of farming communities and force transmission towers to be built on their land”.

“Farmers are being ignored by the Andrews Government in the planning for renewable energy and transmission development across the state,” she said.

“The VFF called on the Government to put a pause on these projects, take over their planning and get the policy settings right so communities are respected, and landholder rights are protected.

“Instead, they have done the complete opposite by giving AEMO unfettered powers to send the bulldozers over our farms.

“The minister is using autocratic powers to rush these projects meaning there is no requirement for a cost benefit analysis or competitive tender. Victoria’s energy rules aren’t just broken, they’re rotten.” the National Electricity Victoria (Amendment) Act 2015 (NEVA)

Ms Germano said Option 5A had included new communities to transmission development without consultation.

“Yet again, the Government has allowed AEMO to announce a new transmission route in the dead of the night, without one jot of consultation with the farmers that could be impacted.

“to bludgeon his agenda through what should be a democratic process” makes it all the worse.

He says the purpose, and intent, of this Act was to amend the original National Electricity (Victoria) Act 2005 to grant rights to the minister and consumer or user groups to intervene in appeals against certain decisions and determinations made by the Australian Energy Regulator.

“It was never intended to be hijacked by an agenda-driven government which clearly doesn’t give a damn about the little people who get in the way of its bluesky vision that is already bankrupting our state,” Mr Walsh says.

“Once again regional and rural Victorians are the ones who will pay the price for the incompetence of the Andrews Labor Government and its total inability to manage an economy.”

“The minister’s order states that she has consulted with the Premier, the Treasurer and AEMO. Nowhere does it say she has consulted with the farming communities that will be impacted by these projects.”

First banners, now campaign T-shirts

FARMERS around Wedderburn and St Arnaud are stepping up their public campaign against the VNI West project.

A fortnight after the first batch of No Go AEMO started being bought by farmers to erect at farm gates, opponents of VNI West and Western Renewables Link have joined forces as Regional Victoria Power Alliance for a state-wide campaign.

They are producing Tshirts with the slogan Stop Labor’s Towers.

BACK IN TIME Brian and Jill Hussey had eyes turning in Brooke Street, Inglewood, when they arrived in town with scores of vintage vehicle enthusiasts for the inaugural pre-World War Two rally organised by three car clubs. Their 1913 T-model Ford was one of the popular vehicles parked in Brooke Street while its owners went browsing local antique stores. And later the vista stepped back a century as Brian drove to the recreation reserve. Brian has owned the car - restored to its original colours of grey, green, blue, and red - for more than 50 years. And it was not the first time he had visited Inglewood. “We’ve been here before ... it’s a beaut town,” said Brian who is head scrutineer with the Veteran Car Club of Australia.