ESC bid to end power company access disputes with farmers branded “toothless”

Landholder disputes with AusNet over the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project have led to calls for a permanent access code.

Protesters gathered on Parliament’s steps this month in opposition to construction of AusNet’s transmission line across Western Victoria to feed renewable power into Melbourne. Picture: Ian Currie.

Victoria’s Essential Services Commission has launched a lightning fast review into establishing “a statement of expectations” on how electricity transmission companies access private property.

The three-week review was launched last Thursday in the wake of ongoing disputes between AusNet and rural property owners along the 190km Western Victoria Transmission Network Project corridor - from Bulgana, near Stawell to Sydenham in Melbourne’s northwest.

Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance chair Emma Muir said she and many of the 220 landholders along the transmission line’s route had refused AusNet access to their properties, given there were no clear rules on access, compensation for lost times and farm biosecurity protections.

But Ms Muir said she feared the rushed review would be of little value, delivering a statement of expectations that was “toothless”.

Nevertheless she said the Alliance was urging all landholders to submit their views on access on the engagag.vic.gov.au website.

The ESC says the proposed the statement of expectations will comprise a set of principles outlining how electricity transmission companies should exercise their powers according to section 93 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 to access land.

But the Victorian Farmers Federation has highlighted the need for a wider set of land access principles to be enshrined in a permanent code, rather than just expectations, given the growing number of transmission line upgrades being planned to tap into the state’s six regional renewable energy zones.

“It is urgent that a permanent code is prepared for all stages of development and that biosecurity, occupational health and safety, an independent review process and a commercial consent approach, similar to locating renewable energy facilities, needs to be developed,” the VFF stated.

“We are concerned that the failure to prepare an access code in the 20 years since the Electrical Industries Act was enacted demonstrates that infrastructure bodies see farming land as vacant and impact free.

“(But) biosecurity and workplace safety are critical issues in operating a farm business and must be addressed in developing any proposal that encroaches on farmland.”

The VFF’s Managing Entry to Farm Policy can be found on its website.

Originally published as ESC bid to end power company access disputes with farmers branded “toothless”