Yass landowners in the pathway of a new 70-metre high transmission line say the HumeLink project could be a disaster if they and others are not consulted with.
Yass Valley councillor Kim Turner and fifth-generation farmer Nan Betts are among the owners of 600 properties within the 200 metre-wide corridor identified by TransGrid for the electrical transmission line.
Apart from a letter six months ago to say the line would run through two paddocks behind his house, Cr Turner said he has heard nothing else about the project.
“As far as we are concerned, there are two residential blocks that front Wargeila Road that are in the path of this dirty, great big transmission line and they are going to be greatly devalued,” Cr Turner said speaking as a private citizen.
“There has been no correspondence on the possible resumption of the easement, what it is going to be worth for the easement or a timeline. In terms of community consultation, it has been pretty pathetic.”
Councillor Kim Turner at “Silverdale” BowningThe identified transmission line currently runs through the middle of Ms Betts’ property.
She said she was worried about the impact of the line on rehabilitation projects funded by the government through Landcare on her property, which borders Derringullen Creek.
In particular, she is concerned about the impact on the waterfall and rare mature trees at the creek.
“It is going to be very, very destructive. I am not one of those radical people who think progress is a disaster, but this one could be,” Ms Betts said.
“The scale of the project cannot help but be destructive to agricultural land and in conflict with Landcare.”
“My position is heartfelt as someone who looks after their land.”
She has spoken to TransGrid several times over the phone and via letter and was told a TransGrid employee from Sydney would visit her property with an environmentalist soon.
Transgrid says HumeLink will reinforce the transmission network in southern NSW and enable renewable energy sources to come online, as well as unlock the full capacity of Snowy Hydro 2.0.
Both Cr Turner and Ms Betts said they disagreed with the use of the transmission line for nearby wind farms.
“We were under the impression originally that it was only for Snowy Hydro 2.0, which I have no great aversion to. But we then discovered it is designed to pick up the extra load from all of the industrial wind turbines, which we were less than happy about. My feelings on wind turbines are very well known, I do not like them, they are a blight on the landscape,” Cr Turner said.
“This is progression and if it means we all end up with cheaper electricity, fantastic, but at the moment there are a lot of unknowns.”
Ms Betts also believes wind turbines destroy natural rangeland and highlighted that they only have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years.
She would like to see the power kept locally by residents like herself investing in solar panels that could feed the transmission line and save on electricity bills.
TransGrid says HumeLink is a low-impact, cost-effective project that will connect to substations at Wagga Wagga, Bannaby and Maragle.
Construction is expected to start in early 2022 while community consultation began in early 2020 and will continue for another year. The route will be finalised following the consultation process, Transgrid says.
“To date, the project has had over 2,600 contacts with landowners via letter, email and phone calls,” TransGrid spokesperson Michelle Stone said.
Landowners are also encouraged to provide feedback using the interactive map of the study corridor at https://humelink.mycommunityengine.com, which Cr Turner said he and his wife Bimbi have done.
Yass Valley Council agreed at its latest meeting to urgently write to TransGrid requesting a presentation on the route option for the transmission line and details on the community consultation process.
The council said TransGrid made a presentation to a councillor workshop on the upgrade of the transmission line in October but that a specific route had not been identified then.
“It now appears that a route has been selected and some local landowners have raised concerns with compensation associated with the upgraded transmission line,” Yass Valley mayor Rowena Abbey said.
As someone who may receive financial compensation for the impact to his land, Cr Turner removed himself from the council chambers at the time the decision was made. Councillors have since attended a presentation by zoom on the project.
