‘They will fight to the death’: Farmers revolt at Victorian power plan

It is three years since a land access agent for AusNet Services first visited the Myrniong family farm of Emma and Peter Muir, an hour’s drive north-west of Melbourne, with a plan to run a 500 kilovolt transmission line across their top paddock in front of their home.

WRL and VNI West – a second new transmission line to connect the WRL to NSW – fail cost benefit tests Still, these farmers have been doing it for generations and are far from the popular image of opponents of progress. “We’re not NIMBYs,” says Emma Muir emphatically. But d’Ambrosio’s change of tack hasn’t placated farmers, who know the state has last resort powers of compulsion.

An AusNet spokeswoman said Parkinson was experienced in working with people to address concerns about complex energy projects. “The community have asked us to improve our engagement and this is one of the ways we are trying to do this,” she said. After “serious and credible threats to project staff ... unarmed security are sometimes present at meetings and events”.Australia hasn’t built transmission projects this large across farm country for decades.

Farmers also worry the 90-metre mandatory easements and 70-metre to 80-metre towers required for 500 kV lines will interfere with modern technology such as GPS-guided machinery, spraying from manned or unmanned aerial vehicles, and the rapidly developing field of autonomous farm equipment.“Those things are potentially going to be stricken from the easement [at] massive cost to productivity. So, you’re not going to be able to take advantage of the developing technology,” says McGurk.

“They’ve all been pulled up on the [proposed WRL] easement,” Drife says. The worst conditions – hot northerlies turning westerly and eventually southerly – can quickly whip up massive fires “to such a scale that it gets really hard to put out”. All these questions have been asked, but no answers have been forthcoming, says Nesbitt. The AusNet spokeswoman acknowledged community concern about impacts on fire fighting. “There are 6500 kilometres of existing transmission lines that are highly regulated to ensure they are designed, maintained and operated safely to prevent fire ignition,” she said.

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