Ausnet is still planning to hold in-person community information sessions regarding the Western Renewables Link (WRL) in Melton and Bacchus Marsh in the wake of moving the Newlyn session online due to a “protest environment”.
The WRL is a controversial proposed 190km overhead high-voltage electricity transmission line that will carry renewable energy from Bulgana in western Victoria to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west, and requires the acquisition of an easement corridor 100 metres wide along the path of the proposed transmission line. that runs through Melton and Moorabool.
Ausnet announced on Wednesday, October 18 that a community information session planned in Newell for Thursday would be moved online.
WRL general manager Malcolm Tinker said Ausnet is disappointed for those who planned to come to the community forum to hear from its project experts.
“We respect people’s rights to protest, but we can’t conduct an information session in a protest environment,” he said.
“It is not helpful for those who are there to get more information, and it’s not appropriate for our staff members. We take our duty of care to community and our staff extremely seriously.
“We will reschedule the event to online and registered one-to-one sessions to ensure we can still answer important questions, especially on key topics such as farming under transmission lines, compensation and bushfire risk.”
At this stage, community forums are still planned for Bacchus Marsh on October 25 and Melton on October 31.
Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance (MCHPA) chair Emma Muir said she’s disappointed there’s “no meaningful engagement for those in the community”.
“I highly dispute that we are violent or intimidating people, we are good community people who want to be told the truth,” she said.
“If people would like to attend, it’s an opportunity to hopefully get answers from your questions, however previous engagement has proven Ausnet to distort the truth.”
The Bacchus Marsh session will be held from 1pm to 7pm at Bacchus Marsh Public Hall, and the Melton session will be held 1pm to 7pm at Melton Football Netball Club.
Recent changes to the WRL include an increase in capacity of the 220kV section of the transmission line between Ballarat and Bulgana to 500kV, and the cancellation of the proposed new terminal station north of Ballarat.
