IF VICGRID and the State Government listens to the South Gippsland Shire Council they’ll forget about prioritising most of this area for investigation for future renewable energy generation and transmission infrastructure.
And they’ll take their turbines and transmission towers and stick them… a lot closer to Melbourne, to save on power transmission costs.
Feedback on the renewable energy zone study area map, published by VicGrid on July 22, 2024 depicting a large ‘Tier 1’ investigation site around Korumburra and another between Foster North and Fish Creek, closes Monday, September 30.
As well as submissions, members of the public were also invited to complete a feedback form to raise concerns.
At its council meeting in May, the South Gippsland Shire Council endorsed its submission about which Renewable Energy Zones should be included for further investigation, noting that while South Gippsland does have some natural advantages when it comes to wind energy there were some key impediments to the development of wind energy facilities here.
In a nutshell the council said:
“The Council urges the State Government to recognise the national significance of South Gippsland’s agricultural production and the high density of rural dwellings outside townships, which have been important for supporting existing land use and current housing needs.”
Included with their submission is a housing density map with yellow dots represent existing dwellings and pink shaded areas, within 1km from an existing dwelling, covering almost the entire shire area.
“This shows the high density of rural dwellings in South Gippsland outside of townships and would indicate the limited locations for new wind farm developments to be considered without obtaining landowner consent.”
During debate about their submission and the very limited opportunity for genuine consultation provided by the State Government, councillors said prior engagement with the council might have streamlined the process.
“Unfortunately, the release of the Draft Guidelines and associated Study Area Map has created unnecessary angst and concern among the community, which is being reflected back to Council.”
Cr Scott Rae, a farmer from Foster North, within one of the Tier 1 study areas, and Cr Jenni Keerie, a resident of the Korumburra area, spoke passionately about the rushed consultation and the prospect that inappropriate areas will be selected for turbines and transmission lines.
Cr Keerie said South Gippsland Shire Council made sure the community’s voice was heard when it came to protecting the Prom coast from close-in wind turbine developments but had been taken unawares by the onshore renewable energy proposals.
“On July 23, without any warning, we got notice that these potential wind farm areas were being proposed for South Gippsland. We heard at exactly the same time as our community, and that was really disappointing after the work that we'd done, engaging with our community, building that social license. It was disappointing that we weren't involved in it, and we could have saved a lot of upset and concern if we'd been consulted about what was, what had already happened, and what had gone before. That didn't happen, but what we did have was an opportunity to again present a submission, this particular submission that's proposed today puts forward the perspective of South Gippsland,” said Cr Keerie.
“It describes what we want to see happen, how we can get the best out of it, but the most important thing is, what do we need to protect in our particular region, and how can we go about doing that?
“The officers put together a really good briefing on that for us, and what they also did was identify a map, residentialised if that’s a word, that really showed how highly populated our agricultural land was. It also highlighted the extreme importance, and I believe other councilors today will actually highlight some of those statistics, on why this particular region is so important.”
Cr Rae said he’d been taught by his mother not to say anything if you have nothing good to say but found that difficult to live up to in these circumstances.
“Councilor Keerie did mention the surprise and the hope for improved relations with the state. I don't see potential for improved relations. This is happening to you. Get used to it. If these were such wonderful, wonderful items that were so good and not intrusive in your life, Port Phillip Bay would be full of them. So would the Dandenongs. The cost for transmission lines is massive. Imagine how much money the state could save by putting wind turbines in Port Phillip Bay and on the Dandenongs. They don't seem to want to, because maybe the votes in South Gippsland don't count for the state and federal government at the moment.
“This is decisive. This is divisive. It will pit neighbors against each other based on a windfall. You might be living in the shadow, you might be listening to the beat of the blade, but you might not get a $1 out of it.
“This assertion of no turbines within a kilometer of any dwelling., it only actually applies if the dwelling owner says, no. We know that these massive international companies have got huge checkbooks. You turn up, you buy a couple of 300, 400 acre farms, and look at that, bingo, you've got spots to put wind turbines. It's happened before.
There's been stuff approved before that's fallen over and the fear I have for the hills of Foster North is that I'm going to be living in the shadow of these things.
“And look, agriculture is already in under attack from gentrification of the farm zone, people moving it onto small blocks and saying, oh, you can't shoot the foxes. It woke my kids up. You can't spray the weeds. What are you spraying?
“Revegetation projects, they're planting out heaps of farmland in trees in the name of carbon credits that will never be farmland again, and now we're going to have this as well. I support that we need a way to create electricity, but dropping turbines all over productive farmland, ain't it. We've got 1000s of acres of desert in this country. Why isn't that suitable?”
Cr Sarah Gilligan also acknowledged that the Renewable Energy Zone proposal came as a shock, especially after council had worked so well with authorities proposing offshore wind energy developments.
She noted an interesting statistic, that South Gippsland Shire hosted the greatest number of agricultural businesses of any municipality in Victoria.
She said it was going to be very hard for them to locate turbines across South Gippsland when you consider the area eliminated by the 1km rule around dwellings.
Cr John Schelling said genuine consultation was essential when trying to build a social licence for these sorts of developments, which had not been the case with the VicGrid process and that it was vital that valuable agricultural land was protected.
VicGRid’s study area is the result of a statewide strategic land use assessment.
It is a starting point, they say, and will be narrowed down to much smaller areas through engagement and further analysis, as they work to define future renewable energy zones.?
So, consultation at this stage is potentially crucial in identifying areas to be prioritised for study and potential development by renewable energy investors, the areas to be “deprioritised” and which areas should be avoided.
The Victorian Planning Provisions already include specific prohibitions for permits to develop wind energy facilities in certain circumstances and locations, which include specific designated locations with high landscape or environmental value. These prohibition areas were introduced into the Victorian Planning Provisions in 2012. They include the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges, Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas, Macedon and McHarg Ranges, and land within 5km of the Great Ocean Road, Bass Coast and the coast east of Warrnambool. Solar facilities are not subject to the same prohibitions in these locations.
Those wishing to make a submission or to complete a feedback form have until Monday, September 30, 2024 to do so. Go to the Engage Vic web site or Google Victorian Transmission Plan. Click HERE to complete the feedback form.
You can read the South Gippsland Shire Council’s submission HERE.