‘Growing sense of betrayal’: Farmers in civil war over power lines

A dispute has erupted between NSW farmers over contentious renewable energy transmission lines, with landowners accusing the state’s peak farming lobby of selling them down the river in exchange for political favour.

A civil war has erupted between NSW farmers over contentious renewable energy transmission lines, with landowners accusing the state’s peak farming lobby of selling them down the river in exchange for political favour.

In an explosive open letter, more than a dozen community groups accused NSW Farmers of betraying members who are fighting against high-voltage power lines running through their properties.

The letter was penned in response to a NSW Farmers “Renewable Energy and Transmission Landholder Guide” produced with funding from state-owned EnergyCo, the authority leading the delivery of the state’s renewable energy zones.

In her foreword to the guide, NSW Farmers chief executive Annabel Johnson said the document was designed to help landholders in “adapting to the challenges and opportunities the energy transition presents”.

The document outlines the consultation process for farmers whose land has been identified for transmission lines, and outlines the process by which EnergyCo selects the sites.

Many NSW farmers are angry about transmission lines going up within metres of their homes. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It lists a range of purported “benefits” of landholders having transmission lines on their properties, including an annual payment of $200,000 per kilometre - for 20 years.

It outlines a number of potential “impacts,” including the potential for “limited allowed activities” around the high-voltage power lines.

Farmers have previously argued crucial firefighting work is one of the “activities” that would be limited around transmission line easements.

A Rural Fire Service representative previously told a NSW parliamentary inquiry power lines were an “obstruction” when fighting fires from the air.

“(Firefighters are) certainly not going to take a high level of risk and fly close to them,” RFS Assistant Commissioner Jayson McKellar told the inquiry.

The open letter from 13 organisations - including farming groups - said members felt “a growing sense of betrayal” at NSW Farmers’ advocacy.

“This so-called ‘guide’ reads as little more than a carefully worded public relations tool,” the authors said.

The authors said NSW Farmers was “silencing the voices of those they were created to represent”.

Members of the 13 signatories to the letter have been campaigning for the overhead power lines to be put underground.

Pictured at his Grain Farm in Mullaley today is Xavier Martin, who is also the NSW Farmers Association President. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The cost of one of the transmission line projects, HumeLink, has repeatedly blown out. Transgrid now expects the project to cost $4.6bn.

A consultant for Transgrid has put the cost of “undergrounding” at $11.5bn.

NSW Farmers would not say how much “funding support” it received from EnergyCo to produce its landholder guide.

In a statement, president Xavier Martin said NSW Farmers “stands by” the guide, while acknowledging it deals with “complex issues”.

“It is not a piece of advocacy that is for or against renewable energy, rather a guide many members have been requesting for some time,” he said.

“This guide helps equip farmers with questions about renewable energy and transmission as much as it does provide information for those interested in learning more about hosting projects.”

An EnergyCo spokesman said the guide had been “developed by farmers for farmers, with financial support from EnergyCo”.

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Originally published as ‘Growing sense of betrayal’: Farmers in civil war over power lines