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Route rage: Transgrid line to pass right by Moulamein
Most local townships have been avoided in the development of a proposed VNI West electrical network line, but Moulamein is firmly in the firing line.
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The overhead powerline network is expected to pass quite close to the town as it connects Jerilderie and Swan Hill.
It is the first time a direct route for the proposed Transgrid network has been released since the project was revealed in July last year.
Before now, broadly mapped ‘corridor’ routes which took in large parts of Jerilderie, Conargo, Wanganella and Moulamein were released.
The latest report - released last week and ahead of public meetings on the proposal this week - considered four direct route options.
The preferred route - option C - gives a wide berth of Jerilderie and the villages of Wanganella and Conargo, but runs quite close to the Moulamein township.
The route was chosen because it “best caters to local constraints identified by stakeholders and the community”, according to the report.
“Route C is the northern most option. It runs in a north-south direction from the NSW/Victoria border towards the west of the Moulamein township before turning east around the north of the town of Moulamein,” the report states.
“The route then travels in a generally east-west direction to the Dinawan substation, following existing infrastructure, such as Maude Road, Wanganella Moulamein Road, Mabins Well Road, and existing property boundaries.”
In listing its reasons as to why this is the preferred route, the report offered six main points.
Chief among them was that it would “avoid coming close to the least number of houses, providing the greatest opportunity to minimise visual disturbance”
It also suggested the chosen route would have the lowest impact on agricultural land, previously identified Aboriginal sites and existing waterways, and be further away from sensitive ecological environments.
But some local landholders are still objecting to the project, saying it does not take all the risks into account.
At a community meeting hosted by landholders at Mouamein at the weekend, one resident said the route appeared as though it would be within 500m of their home.
Alison Glen - who with Kate Redfearn started a community group opposing the project - said the meeting also highlighted just how close to the township the line is expected to get.
“If you zoom in on the map it appears the line will go right past the grains bunkers, which are only 2km or so from the centre of town.” she said.
“This is a big problem for our town.
“The original corridors pushed away from Barham and Moama, and we feel they should stay away from Moulamein too. There’s no reason for the line to come this close.
“If they are going to do this right, it needs to have the best outcome for everyone not just a few.”
On the back of the public meeting a ‘snapshot’ document of the main concerns has been created, which outlines the visual impact of the network, potential health risks and the fact there are to be few local benefits from the network.
One landholder who spoke to the Koondrook Barham Bridge, and who asked to remain anonymous, said it didn’t matter how many routes were proposed, they don’t support the lines at all.
“All these lines seem to do is bring benefits to city-based green agendas and leave the bill with us and our land,” the landholder said.
“I’ve looked at the map and they still fail to show any flooding despite our property being totally under water (during the 2021 flood).
“I had a Transgrid staff member on the farm and they basically argued that we didn’t flood. I offered to show them the marks on the tree.”
The interactive map found on the Transgrid site does fail to show any of the impacted farms or easements from Murrabit, Cunninyeuk, Moulamein and east towards Bundyulumblah, despite roads being cut off and some farms having nearly 2m of water across them in 2021.
The map appears to include flood data from local government areas of Edward River Council and Balranald, but nothing for Murray River Council.
According to the report, the proposed route pathway crosses 17 named major water courses.
Fourteen threatened flora species listed under the EPBC act or listed as Serious and Irreversible Impact (SAII) under the BC Act that have also been identified during desktop analysis.
The same analysis reportedly also identified 30 threatened fauna species as high biodiversity constraints - two amphibians, 18 avifauna, two mammals, two reptiles and six fish.
Predictive modelling also identified a number of high, medium and low potential areas for identifying Aboriginal heritage.
In releasing the report, Transgrid project director Colin Mayer strongly encouraged people to “review the information and provide us with their feedback on this critical transmission project”.
“This report outlines all options, the benefits and risks for each (of the four route options) and the community and stakeholder consultation which supported the process,” he said.
VNI West public meetings are being held in Moulamein tomorrow, Deniliquin on Thursday and Jerilderie on Friday.
These will be followed by a series of drop-in sessions across these communities.
Details about meetings times and locations can be found on page 3 of today’s edition.
The route report can be viewed at www.transgrid.com.au/projects-innovation/vni-west.