Summary of Fera meeting 27th July

Around 150 people attended FERA’S Community Consultation for an update on the Seymour Wind Farm Project, at Alexandra High School, Saturday 27th July at 10am.

Attendees were asked to record their name and contact details upon entry, and complete a brief survey, including a question “Do you have a name suggestion for the Seymour Project?”

Following an introductory 90 second video about a lady in NSW happily living next door to a 16 year old wind farm, who sometimes hears the turbines and likes to pretend she lives near the ocean, Andrew Lawson presented a slideshow that was predominately about the planning and construction of wind energy facilities. The slide with a graph showing statistics on birds being killed by wind turbines compared to cats in North America was insulting to our intellect.

It appeared to infer that killing only a relatively small number of birds is OK.

While the presentation material was new and better than previous offerings, it had very little information about Fera's actual project, which was noted by a few of the questioners. We did learn a few new facts, which are alarming and confirm that FERA are still as determined as ever to try and get their project up and running.

• Mr Lawson committed to having a map of detailed turbine locations on the FERA website by the end of this next week. (The map has now been added to their website)

• Mr Lawson said he had spoken to VicGrid and that FERA are confident that region will become a new REZ (Renewable Energy Zone) due to its close proximity to existing transmission lines. They aim to have their project supported by VicGrid as a “Victorian Foundation project”. That is, that FERA appear to be influencing REZ location prior to the process being opened for public consultation.

• Mr Lawson stated that the Minster for Environment supports the project (note that it’s the Minister for Planning who is the decision maker on this project).

• Of the 108 proposed turbines,  Fera expect the final number to be 80-100. Biosis have already advised FERA that 5-6 turbines may require further investigation for environmental impacts.

• Mr Lawson has spoken to Ministers office (Minister for Environment?) about possibly connecting some of the turbines to Euroa, in an effort to alleviate their ongoing power outages

• 5-6 ppl have expressed interest in the Community Consultative Committee.

• Several questions about the transmission line routes, substations, communication with landowners and compensation were not answered directly.

• A prompt from the audience led to a show of hands, which indicated around 95% of people opposed the project.

• In response to a question, Mr Lawson stated that FERA will not ask the Government to exercise their powers of compulsory acquisition for transmission lines. 

• In response to a question about a transmission line route through the Black Range, he said it was one option but they had a preference not to.

• The cost of the project was anticipated to be $1.2-$1.5 billion, with the project covering costs in 10-12 years, covered by energy sales (end user) of $180-$200 million per year. A 10% profit was forecast with the project life being between 30-40 years. This is the same cost estimate given by Fera two years ago, it seems that they are immune to inflation.

• In response to a question of underground transmission lines, Mr Lawson said it was not financially viable for Fera.

• Mr Lawson did not provide any update on transmission line routes, other than to confirm to one landowner in question time, that the transmission lines would not be going through his property.

• When pushed on the transmission route location, Mr Lawson said that they would be able to confirm this by December - previously they advised this announcement would be made in July.

Having examined the map included in Fera's presentation, Fera continue to exhibit their disrespect to the community by showing their project being built on properties that they know to be strongly opposed to their proposal. Fera have been challenged by landowners about this in the past, but they continue to do it regardless.

The Alexandra Post and Yea Chronicle also published their summary of the meeting in  the Wednesday 31st July editions.

We remind everyone to please consider making a formal submission to the VicGrid consultation, or at the least to complete the two feedback forms. Full details are on the Engage Victoria web site https://engage.vic.gov.au/victransmissionplan

If there is no objection to the development of an REZ in this region then the government can assume that it's OK to proceed. Establishment of an REZ would change the character of this region from one of rural lifestyle to an industrial free for all.