Rural communities across Victoria have expressed anger over the Victorian government’s plan to “accelerate” renewable energy projects, claiming community consultation has been a “sham”.
In a bid to build $90 billion worth of developments held up in red tape and bring down energy prices, the government said projects would be eligible to be fast-tracked under the Development Facilitation Program (DFP) and treated as “significant economic developments”.
But farmers are concerned about the removal of the planning panel process, including third-party appeals to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Katherine Myers and her family run a potato farm in Tourello, north of Ballarat, and have been fighting proposed energy infrastructure set to run through her property for several years.
“It’s a really concerning step forward. We saw last year minister [Lily] D’Ambrosio remove the right to challenge or appeal transmission infrastructure being constructed,” she said.
“And now they’ve removed the right to have our concerns heard about renewable energy developments.
“It feels like death by a thousand cuts. There’s a lot coming in the pipeline and I really am concerned that we’ve got this constant erosion of property rights here in Victoria. It’s setting a fairly concerning precedent.”
Balancing power and produce
The change means that from the time a complete application is lodged for one of the new state significant projects, decisions can be made within four months.
“That’s really quick for a project that can have a really significant, material detriment to a business,” Ms Myers said.
“The planning legislation is there to protect not only the natural environment but also the social and economic environment that our rural communities sit in.
“Four months is not long to access the planning proposal that can then no longer be challenged in the future.”
More than one in five applications have ended up in VCAT since 2015, according to the state government.
“I think that absolutely highlights how broken the process is,” Ms Myers said.
“[Energy Infrastructure Commissioner] Andrew Dyer in his recent report referred to renewable energy developers as cowboys. There’s some really poor behaviour and poor planning proposals being rubber stamped.
“That VCAT process has been essential in making sure the concerns of landholders, environments, and all kinds of different community groups are heard if they’re missed in that early planning process.
“We’ve gotta get this planning right, we need to get both our food security and our energy security right. We’ve got risks on both sides and if we pursue one with blindfolds on then we’re going to muck up the other one.”
Calls for a pause
Moyne Shire Mayor Ian Smith wants assurance from the state government that community concerns will be heard during the new approval process.
“With the removal of the independent panel it’s just going to make it very hard for residents to have an input into any of these wind farm or renewable energy projects,” he said.
“They just want to fast-track these projects, and it’s probably an easy way to override the people who are hosting these projects.
“I think it is very unfair that we don’t have an opportunity to at least input into the planning process. We’re a key stakeholder in this and we really need to be able to engage with the government.”
Cr Smith has called for a pause on new developments until strategic land use planning is completed.
“Moyne Shire is already home to 310 operating wind turbines with another 410 under construction or in planning, covering around 12 per cent of our total land area,” he said.
“It’s very unfair. We’re carrying far too big of a load with renewable energy. They’re coming into our communities and putting in major infrastructure.”
Ms Myers agreed with Cr Smith, despite some projects being delayed by up to two years due to VCAT appeals.
“Slow down, think about what you’re doing, and make sure we don’t make decisions that we regret in the future,” she said.
“These are decisions that are going to affect people 30, 40, 50 years into the future. We can’t make them too quickly.”
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