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Minister snubs meeting call
A CALL by Loddon farmers for a meeting with Energy and Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has gone unanswered.
The minister was asked last week whether she would meet with local farmers to discuss VNI West amid their calls for an extension to the project consultation that ends in three weeks.
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A Government spokesperson replied: “New transmission is vital for securing clean affordable power for every Victorian town and enabling the development of our renewable energy industry as we work towards net-zero emissions by 2045.
“A six-week public consultation is currently underway on the location of the terminal station for VNI west ensuring local communities, stakeholders and tradi- tional owners can have their say on the project.
“We are providing additional compensation payments to ensure that we strike a balance between fairly compensating private landholders who host transmission infrastructure, and minimising the impacts on power bills”
The Government said VNI West transmission project would boost Victoria’s import and export capacity with New South Wales by more than 1800 megawatts (MW) and unlock thousands of megawatts of new renewable projects across Victoria.
“Payments will reflect the impact of the infrastructure on the landholders who host it, with payments for a typical easement at a standard rate of $8000 per year per kilometre of trans- mission easement for 25 years. These payments will be in addition to any payments that landholders are eligible for under existing arrangements for transmission easements under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986.
“As part of the development of the Victorian Transmission Investment Framework, new benefit sharing arrangements are being considered to ensure that local communities benefit directly from hosting transmission infrastructure.”
At the weekend, it was reported that the Government’s tax on transmission line land was adding tens of millions of dollars to its coffers every year.
In 2004, the Government introduced a tax on land near highvoltage power lines.
