Powerlink transmission lines causes anxiety in Widgee residents
‘Powerless’ landowners in the path of proposed high voltage lines to connect the Borumba pumped hydro facility to the state’s power grid are suffering mental anguish and uncertainty as they wait to learn their fate.
Community News
Don't miss out on the headlines from Community News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A letter from Powerlink in the mail in late 2022 sent a shudder of shock and uncertainty through the communities caught between Borumba Dam in the Mary Valley and Woolooga, west of Gympie.
Powerlink Queensland is an electricity transmission system operator owned by the state government operating the high-voltage electricity transmission network in Queensland.
It is undertaking detailed design and cost analysis with Qld Hydro of the Borumba Dam pumped hydro project, and consulting with hundreds of Gympie region landowners ahead of choosing a corridor of potentially up to 80km of high voltage power lines to connect the dam to substations at Woolooga in the north and Tarong/Halys in the west.
News of the three corridor options, which vary from 54km to 83km, has left those in the potential pathways reeling, feeling forgotten, stepped over, in limbo and angry.
“It was just a random letter from Powerlink, saying there’s plans afoot, there’s a public meeting,” said Kris Janke, who has a cattle property in Widgee.
Ms Janke is a third generation Widgee farmer and works her farm with her brother. They have used the land for dairy farming and small crops, but are now graziers.
Her grandfather and his brother came over from Germany in 1912 and established the farm. She inherited it from her father, who died five years ago.
“If they decide to put the easement on the westernmost edge of the investigation zone, then it‘ll cut right through the bottom of our paddock here and into our cousin’s paddock next door,” she said.
The paddock is where she grows hay. While she’ll continue growing hay, it has created uncertainty into how she can use the field in the future.
“It just throws into question a whole bunch of things about if the lines are there, then how are we going to irrigate that part of the land, or are we going to be able to even use it for cultivation?
“A major concern I have is biosecurity risk and how can we trust them to do the right thing, and maintain the biosecurity?
“It’s a hard slog just to keep the weeds under control as it is.”
While Ms Janke has no plans to leave or sell the property, she does not know how much compensation would be needed to offset her mental anguish over the uncertainty and fear.
“There’s a whole bunch of questions that sit in the back of your mind. Every time I think about what could happen it gets a bit overwhelming. I feel like we’re all in limbo,” she said.
“It sucks for everyone, whichever way they go, somebody is going to be impacted. I personally feel it‘s a state owned project, so state owned land, because the little guys who are out here, toiling day to day, don’t deserve to have their land taken off them in that manner.
“As far as human impact goes and effect on people’s mental health, and general well being, they need to consider that.”
Mardi Brady moved on to her 200 acre (81ha) hobby farm two and a half years ago on Blacksnake Rd in Kilkivan. She has 26 head of cattle.
She was flooded out in her Deception Bay home in 2015, and watched as the dam walls broke on her property in Kilkivan during the floods of 2022.
She has now been confronted with the possibility of the construction of transmission lines within eyesight of her verandah and she’s concerned about the devaluation of her land.
“If there was even an inkling of information that it was even a proposed idea for these towers to go through there is no way, no way at all that I would have purchased the property,” Ms Brady said.
“How much compensation can they pay someone to have these ugly, huge things running through your backyard that you have to look at forever?”
The transmission lines through their properties are part of the infrastructure needed in the state government’s transition away from fossil fuels.
Acting as a giant battery with a 2000MW dispatch capacity, storing up to 24 hours of energy, the project would form part of the backbone of the state’s transition to renewable energy and would power up to 2 million homes.
The letters sent out in November and December 2022 were part of Powerlink’s extended consultation process.
“No final decisions have been made on the location of the new transmission line or towers,” Powerlink has said. An announcement on a draft will be made on April 27, following a final draft after another round of consultation in May 2023.
A number of community action groups are planning a rally against the transmission lines at Widgee Bushman’s Bar on Friday, March 17.
Kilkivan, Widgee and Woolooga landowners are no strangers to the presence of renewable energy and the solar farm at Woolooga is a visible reminder of the region’s contribution.
For Ms Janke, providing energy for the state’s growing population, particularly in the city, should not come off the backs of the people who live in regional areas.
The last decade of battling the constant biosecurity risks in her property, alongside droughts, fires, floods, a pandemic, and more floods, meant that added transmission lines was an unnecessary anguish.
“This kind of struggle is not what people need. It’s all well and good to be looking at a green future, but do it in a way that is not impacting the mental health and the well being of communities, especially the smaller communities away from the city,” Ms Janke said.
High achievers: Meet the Gympie grads who aced ATAR exams
St Patrick’s College in Gympie has achieved remarkable results in this year’s ATAR exams with two students standing out as being “top of the class” for 2024. Here’s what they scored and their plans for the future.
‘So happy’: Gympie’s cutest baby winner revealed
More than 70 adorable Gympie kids were nominated for Cutest Baby of 2024, but one little man captured the hearts of the community.