Parliamentary Inquiry into undergrounding of transmission lines ‘welcome news’

28th Jun 2023

A Parliamentary Inquiry into undergrounding powerlines has been welcomed by both the NSW Farmers Association and Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall.
Multiple renewable energy projects proposed or under construction in regional areas will require new power lines to connect them to the grid.
The Legislative Council
inquiry will report on the feasibility of undergrounding transmission infrastructure for renewable energy projects by the end of August, with particular reference to:
• the costs and benefits of undergrounding;
• existing case studies and current projects regarding similar undergrounding of transmission lines in both domestic and international contexts;
• any impact on delivery timeframes of undergrounding, and
• any environmental impacts of undergrounding.
NSW Farmers Energy Transition Working Group chair Reg Kidd said that too often landholders were being ignored by the big developers.
“We support a robust inquiry, because it will find that there are places where undergrounding wires is a win-win for production and community amenity that has not been addressed to date,” Mr Kidd said.

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“Until now undergrounding has been ignored or dismissed as too expensive, not because of a cost/benefit analysis, but rather through the lack of will to fully investigate the impacts of huge infrastructure on rural communities.
“There has been a lot of just drawing lines on maps and justifying route selection in order to minimise cost and get onto the next project, and the real impacts of above ground infrastructure have not been assessed, and this is what this inquiry will reveal.”
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said that people across the Northern Tablelands and New England regions had been raising their concerns about the impact large industrial-scale transmission lines would have on the landscape, environment and agricultural production and he’s pleased the government has finally acknowledged them and taken some action.
He is urging the inquiry committee to visit the region to see and hear for themselves the concerns locals have about the proposed transmission lines.
“As I said in the Parliament a fortnight ago, the government must look seriously at undergrounding sections of these new lines to avoid land use conflicts, loss of biodiversity and impacts on people’s amenity and existing industries, such as agriculture,” Mr Marshall said.
“People across the region are telling me loud and clear they want these new large-scale public infrastructure assets placed on public land.
“We have no shortage of parcels of public land in the broader New England region and that should be the first preference this inquiry looks at, with the use of private land only considered where there is no other option available.
“No one is suggesting we underground all of the hundreds of kilometres of new transmission lines required to be built, but where it impacts heavily on existing industries and the lives of local residents, we should put them underground as has been done in other parts of the state.”

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Parliamentary Inquiry into undergrounding of transmission lines ‘welcome news’

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