On Thursday 23rd March, 2023 at 7:00pm we will be holding an in person Community Information Session, where all are welcome. There will be a focus on our Legal Fight and an opportunity for community members to ask question of the Alliance.

Following the information session, we will hold our AGM. The AGM will be a members only event and papers including our Annual Report will be distributed to members ahead of the meeting.

Stop AusNet’s Towers Community Information Session and MCHPA AGM

Thursday March 23th, 7:00pm
Springbank Football and Netball Club Rooms
Located at Ormond Road Wallace, Vic, 3352

Downloads: AGM Agenda  |  Chair’s Report  |  Financial Reports

On Tuesday March 21st AusNet and AEMO invited selected community members to meet with the two organizations executive staff, include Daniel Westerman, CEO AEMO and Tony Navarez, CEO AusNet. The community members were offered an hour-long meeting where the CEO’s proclaimed they were “here to listen”.

AusNet and AEMO arrived late and several times throughout the meeting gestured to leave. The meetings narrative was characterized by the lack of appreciation or recognition of the significant impacts and risks to the community. Neither organization is recognizing their responsibility for the poor planning and poor decisions attributed to the project, AEMO proclaimed they were “following the directives of government’s wishes”.

The community remains the most impacted but seemingly least important stakeholder, given the lack of meaningful actions taken by AusNet and AEMO.

Those in attendance expressed the community’s continued resilience in blocking land access and stopping this project. Community members in attendance also cited the high likelihood of deaths within the community directly attributed to the project and its proponents disregard for the community’s wellbeing. Deaths were seen as a probable outcome due to the significant increase in risk through catastrophic fire and through the increased mental health pressures.

Outside of the formal meeting hundreds of local community members and dozens of tractors gather to make their voices heard.

Community members in attendance at the meeting put forward the following statements and questions for the CEO’s. It must be noted that throughout the hour long meeting no comprehensive answers were provided. Subsequently we have asked the AusNet and AEMO to respond to these questions.

The community members in attendance made it very clear that the community is highly motived to stop this project in its current form and that community opposition will continue to deliver risk to the project.

• The proposed terminal station move has caused greater impact with the up-rating of the line.
• They continue to ignore or dismiss the severity of the projects impacts on landholders, communities, the environment, social, economic, amenity, and future urban growth.
• Since the onset of the project there has been an absence of honest transparent information from AusNet and AEMO.
• Our identified issues have been dismissed or mismanaged by people who simply do not understand or care. You need to earn the community’s confidence, which has been lost.
• We have been questioning this project for the past 30 months and intend to be in it for the long haul. We continue to gain momentum as more communities, councils, businesses, media and politicians come on board. Community opposition also continues to grow across the state and country. We are not going away.
• We note the mental health impact on the wider community is unacceptable.

We requested they take the project back to the drawing board and involve the communities from the outset – which includes the identification of solution(s) that have the least impact. This must involve early engagement. Compensation is not the solution.

An extract of the questions posed is included here:

1. AEMO and AusNet have a massive risk. Many of which are increasing, these are highlighted by:
   1. land access risk (they will not get this)
   2. legal action risk (ongoing)
   3. organization reputation risk (they have lost this and will be difficult to regain)
   4. political risk
   5. community health risk (continues to grow)
   6. approvals risk (still a long way to go and poor process so far)
   7. social licence risk (they have none and seem intent on not gaining any)
   8. compounding risk to other projects (the community dissatisfaction here is now spilling over to other regions who face similar projects)
   9. construction risk (no access, lack of materials)
   10. governance risk by mismanagement of project (poor internal process by both organizations)

What are you going to do remove or reduce these risks?

2. Who owns this project and who can make the decisions?
3. The proposed WRL/VNI-West Terminal Station change is a much bigger / worse impacting project than before.  The move and uprating has moved location of 20ha terminal station but not removed its land area impact, whereas the bigger lines add at least 300ha of new easement land area and 110km of much bigger impacts. All you’ve done is make it bigger and the impacts and risk far greater. Please explain what we should be proud of?
4. The February 20th Ministerial Order give AEMO the capacity to look at other routes with Government endorsement what are you doing? What alternative routing and/or technology options are considering?
5. How do you in good conscience proclaim a social licence objective, when even more so now with the NEVA order, you’ll bulldoze a vni-west and wrl solution onto unsuspecting landholders with the same poor process and no social licence. Do you even have social licence as an objective, and if so, what is your plan, because it ain’t working?
6. Vni-West is activating more people against a fundamentally undemocratic land grab, supported by your cosy relationships with gov to get orders etc, but this game is far from over on the ground. Why do you think your actions to bulldoze with gov will win people over, don’t you realise it dramatically increases risks of resistance and failure. How are you managing these risks?
7. With movement of Terminal Station why are you maintaining the existing WRL alignment?
8. Given the future network constraints that will occur if the Mount Prospect Terminal Station is moved to Bulgana as per the proposed preferred option 5 for VNI West (these constraints are acknowledged and discussed in the VNI West Consultation Report) it is clear additional transmission will be required in this region in the near future. As AEMO states on p.27 of the VNI West Consultation Report (with reference to the VAPR 2022), the preferred option 5 does not increase transfer capability between Kerang, Bendigo and Ballarat so clearly that matter will still need to be resolved if option 1 is no longer being considered. We would like AEMO to be transparent about what infrastructure is likely to be further imposed on this region. Can you tell us if there will be a new 500kV connection from Ballarat to Bendigo to Kerang and could that involve a new ‘north of Ballarat’ terminal station?
9. There is also the matter that if the Mount Prospect TS is moved to Bulgana (or the Waubra/Lexton area) that the WRL route will be predominantly unchanged, even though was developed based on a TS located in Mount Prospect. What could/would the route have been if the TS was always proposed at the western end? AusNet might never have developed the present route in that circumstance. Is it just expedient to continue with the now baked-in route? How much less impact could there be if a new route was investigated?
10. How is AEMO ensuring the WRL project is properly and reasonably consulting with communities (No Social License, Legitimacy, Credibility, Trust, and community push-back)?
11. Setbacks are being considered by Vic Govt. What is AEMO’s role in this?
12. Energy safe Victoria have drafted a bushfire safety information sheet around transmission lines, which is basically all the information that the general community needs to evacuate the area in the event of a fire. As farmers, local business operators and CFA members, we don’t have the luxury of running from this problem, we are the people left behind to sort out the problem.

• Question: We believe most properties in the vicinity of the easement will be left undefendable in the event of a large fire, given we would have to pull all crews out at the last firm reference point, eg, road. Do you have an alternative?
• Question: Who takes responsibility for the fact fires will end up much larger and take more property and lives, due to the lost opportunity to control them in the lead up to the lines, under the lines, and for a significant distance after the lines?
• Question: Why is it that you cannot give us clear direction on how we manage this situation you plan to put us in, or if you have the answers why won’t you share them?

13. Clearly property devaluations and equity devaluations have already started to emerge due to the proposed Transmission line, AusNet are currently blaming the Banks for this and expect us to take the issue up with the Bank. This seems like a waste of time, given that the minute AusNet confirm their plans, they are 100% responsible for the devaluation.

• Question: Why is AusNet blaming the banks for this? They are doing what is necessary to grantee a strong banking sector that have their bases covered.  (Silicon Valley Bank as an example did not cover their bases well)
• Question: Do you believe these devaluations would be occurring if the proposed transmission lines did not exist?
• Question: Do you intend to pay for these property devaluations caused by AusNet’s proposed transmission line in the future? (Before line building starts?)

14. With respect to Melton and surrounds – how can you justify and explain the following impacts?

• Latest corridor impacts multi-million dollar sporting complex, MacPherson Park, wires across the main entrance and double rows of 10 towers along north boundary
• 85 meter tower planned on MacPherson Park’s Equestrian Park. Pony club rooms would have to be relocated Ausnet think it is OK for kids to ride their ponies under the wires that go over the dressage arena
• Melton Airfield impacted. Main runway still heading towards 80 meter plus high towers.
• Future development of the Melton township will be impacted
• Harness racing trainers impacted along with other equine land uses
• significant landscape overlays impacted . eg Mount Kororoit – tower on northern slope will be 20 meters higher than the Mount itself
• wedge tail eagles frequently sighted possibly nesting on Mount Kororoit

WE NEED REAL DONATIONS, NOW IS THE TIME

STOP AUSNET’S TOWERS

Our Fight continues and we need to continue to Fundraise to support the legal undertakings. We are taking control and real action to cancel this dud project – nobody is above the law.

SAVE YOUR HOMES, FAMILY, BUSINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

One of our members has come up with a “bloody great” idea.

The State Government (yes, the same one that has unreasonably imposed this impactful and dangerous project on the community) are offering a $250 Power Saving Bonus for all households until midnight on 23 March, 2023.

This rebate application is a simple process that may be undertaken by visiting the website compare.energy.vic.gov.au you can also access a How to Apply Guide here. The Bonus is paid directly into your nominated bank account.

For those who’ve never claimed the $250 Power Saving Bonus, the first round closes on 23 March, and we’d appreciate you considering applying for it and donating part or all of it to the Alliance to help the community fight this project.

For those who’ve already claimed the current $250 Power Saving Bonus, there’s a new round opening on 24 March, please considering applying for it and donating part or all of it to the Alliance to help the community fight this project.

You can apply for both Bonus amounts – one before and one after those dates – for a total possible amount of $500.

What a perfect way to get the Victorian Government to fund our fight. It can take up to three weeks for the money to go into your bank account and we ask that you  consider donating part or all of the Bonus now before receiving the money from the government later.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to us at info@stoplaborstowers.com.au