Agriculture
20 May, 2024
VNI West access sweetener hits $50k
TRANSMISSION Company Victoria has put more money on the table to win over landholders opposing its controversial VNI West renewable energy transmission line project. Farmers will now be offered $50,000 - up from $20,000 - if they grant land access...
TRANSMISSION Company Victoria has put more money on the table to win over landholders opposing its controversial VNI West renewable energy transmission line project.
Farmers will now be offered $50,000 - up from $20,000 - if they grant land access.
But the new sweetener is unlikely to sway farmers between Stawell and Kerang.
Powlett’s Leigh Parry, who owns irrigation property near Boort, said” “They are getting desperate and want people to give them access to land.”
“The project is still more about bulldozing plans than anything,” Mr Parry said.
The massive jump in the access fee comes as TCV refines the troubled project’s path with technical and environmental surveys across the region, including northern Loddon districts, and the Sate Government has ordered an environmental effects statement on the project.
Northern Loddon farmers have told TCV concerns for agricultural activity if the transmission lines run through prime irrigation country.
TCV said on Monday that it had “actioned stakeholder feedback on land access agreement payments, increasing the payment to landholders who provide larger areas for survey areas”.
“Landholders can discuss land access agreements for VNI West, which start at $10,000 to a maximum $50,000, with their dedicated landholder liaison officers.”
Spokesperson, Claire Cass, said the change reflected the project’s ongoing engagement with landholders who communicated the potential impost of survey access on their time.
“These payment changes acknowledge the administrative and time impost for landholders with larger properties, when they are negotiating and providing survey access for their land,” she said.
“We are entering voluntary land access agreements with landholders across the ~2km VNI West draft corridor, outlining the terms and conditions for TCV to carry out field surveys on their land.
“The surveys are important to confirm the condition and environmental sensitivities of the land, and to enable us to reduce potential impacts of the project to people and farming.
“Total payments per property will now increase where access to a larger area of land is provided.
“Land access payments now range from $10,000 to $50,000 per property. The change is retrospective, and landholders who have already entered a land access agreement may be eligible for additional payments dependent on the access area already agreed to.
“No landholders will receive less compensation because of this change. Our team of landholder liaisons championed this change, and they are the best point of contact for landholders to understand how these payments apply to them,” she said.
However, TCV says it will want to register a property bcaveat if the access payment is more than $30,000 “to ensure that any new property owners are notified about TCV’s interest in the property”.
“This caveat will not provide TCV with any additional rights outside of the agreed access and will expire at the end of the agreed access term. This caveat will only come into effect if the land changes hands,” according to Monday’s announcement.