General News
1 May, 2023
You've got it wrong, says council
AUSTRALIAN Energy Market Operator’s preferred option five route did not adequately recognise the high value of horticulture in the Loddon Shire, said Mayor Dan Straub. In council’s submission on plans for a 500 kiloVolt interconnector, Cr Straub...
AUSTRALIAN Energy Market Operator’s preferred option five route did not adequately recognise the high value of horticulture in the Loddon Shire, said Mayor Dan Straub.
In council’s submission on plans for a 500 kiloVolt interconnector, Cr Straub said the route should better consider the quality soils, horticulture, high value irrigation, cultural heritage, and natural waterways.
“The area between Lake Marmal and Boort is a high value horticultural area,” he said.
“Boort hosts the largest olive grove in the Southern Hemisphere comprising around 14,000 acres.
“There are large vineyards traversing the alignment. Further to the south is irrigation supplied from the Waranga channel with travelling irrigators and centre pivots as well as new horticultural developments near Fernihurst.”
And Cr Straub questioned impacts on Loddon communities if the interconnector bypasses Bendigo.
“The assessment does not adequately consider the impact of bypassing Bendigo,” he said.
“This is a short-sighted approach which will result in future duplication of infrastructure at a significant financial and social cost.
“Not connecting to Bendigo results in heavy loading of the Kerang-Bendigo 220kv line due to shared network loading and limits the achievable renewable energy zone transmission limit. AEMO is suggesting they will consider upgrades when there is required demand, however there are already identified projects around Mitiamo, Kerang and Pyramid Hill which will exceed the limits of this line.”
Cr Straub says in the submission there is a level of social license to consolidate transmission lines along one alignment.
“There is no appetite for a spider web of transmission infrastructure across our municipality.
“Loddon Shire Council has approved planning permits for a number of solar farms along the original alignment as a reflection of market confidence.
“These solar farm proponents have been consulting with the community through that process to proactively build trust.”
Council said AEMO’s February report added social and environmental impacts as part of the non-statutory multi-criteria assessment.
“This assessment allocates a percentage weighting to categories as specified in the criteria.
“This assessment is desktop based and we believe that it lacks significant understanding of the landscape in our region,” the submission said.