TRANSMISSION Company Victoria has faced pressure from communities in the VNI renewable energy transmission line path for details on the project’s insurance.
Community reference group members used their last meeting of 2023 to push for the information, according to minutes released this week.
Group chair David Hale is organising for an insurance company to outline “what is likely to be covered and other insurance considerations” on the route from Stawell to Kerang and through prime irrigation land in northern sections of the Loddon Shire.
TCV and TransGrid will also “facilitate information about insurance for interested community members (may include a standard list of non-negotiable insurance items to be covered by commercial insurers)”. Mr Hale has also taken responsibility to have the Country Fire Authority speak at a future reference group meeting on firefighting near transmission lines.
Reference group meetings had the presentation due by February but minutes showed arrangements remained “in progress” as is the insurance company presentation that is listed as being due by early 2024.
He said in an update to project stakeholders on Monday: “As always, I’m very grateful to community members making the effort to come along to discuss the project and share their communities’ concerns, especially with many dealing with the effects of storm and fires. 
“We need to continue making progress on the issues like fighting fires around transmission lines and insurance implications, and I’ve spoken with representatives who will be able to brief community reference group  members on those topics in the coming months.”
Reference group minutes record members raised concerns that although there is a CFA guideline around firefighting under transmission lines, there were reports of mixed messages coming from the CFA about allowable firefighting distances near 500Kv transmission lines.
TCV said small group discussions had been held in Tragowel, Glenloth East and Murrabit in February and March “providing a valuable opportunity for TCV to hear directly from landholders and the community to better understand their concerns”.
The Australian Energy Market Operator company starts its next series of community engagement in Kerang on Tuesday night followed by sessions in Charlton and Stawell.
“The project team will be joined at each event by specialists in areas including compensation, agriculture, environment and technical matters related to VNI West. The events will not be in a ‘town hall’ format and won’t include formal presentations; instead, the format will allow community members and landholders to drop in at a convenient time to speak to the team and ask questions in a relaxed environment.”
Opponents of VNI West again raised concerns about insurance coverage and firefighting capacity at a meeting in Boort late last month. A protest on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne last year saw CFA volunteers burn their yellow overalls in protest at transmission line plans.