Farmers and manufacturers say they're being tangled up in Powercor red tape

Powercor owns and maintains power lines throughout western Victoria.

Farmers wanting to move oversized machinery, or manufacturers transporting plant and equipment, have to apply to Powercor for movement permits.

Douglas grains and cereal grower Stephen Hobbs said he ran into problems when he tried to get a new disc seeder delivered from a NSW manufacturer.

"Powercor said they would need to survey the entire route, from the NSW border to the destination at Douglas," Mr Hobbs said.

Initially, Powercor said the price for the survey would be $13,000 but later brought the price down to $3000.

He said the seeder was a standard sized machine, measuring 12 metres wide, but 5.5m when folded

Mr Hobbs said he believed the load height was 5.3m, which was well above Powercor limits, which deemed it would pose a risk to electricity infrastructure along the route.

He said getting approvals from VicRoads, and councils along the route, was the first hurdle, but that was resolved.

"When we thought we had clearance to get a permit issued, we came up against Powercor," he said.

"We were well and truly gazumped.

"They needed to know which power lines were going to be a problem and whether they could be dealt with."

Powercor told him some lines along the route would have been needed to be lifted, to allow for clearance.

Mr Hobbs said the other major issue was the time delay, with Powercor telling him it would take four to six weeks to issue a permit.

"We were going into seeding, and a four to six week delay on an implement would have been out of the question," he said.

"Apart from the very lengthy time delay, my concern with Powercor is that I think they see it as a revenue stream.

"They have an effective monopoly and think they can charge what they like."

Several manufacturers contacted by Stock & Land, who declined to comment for fear of reprisals, said it was too expensive and time consuming to get permits.

A spokesperson for one manufacturer, who declined to be named, said he believed Powercor should know what the heights along the route were.

"From what I can see, they either don't have a very good hold on what they own, or they are just extorting people," the spokesperson said.

Another Victorian silo manufacturer confirmed the company had reduced its range, as it was too expensive and time consuming to get permission to move them.

And David Whitehead, of Rochester farm and industrial silo manufacturer Nelsons, agreed the company now limited the size of its products, due to the difficulty of transporting them across Victoria.

"We keep ours down to 4.6m in diameter," Mr Whitehead said.

"In the end, the system beat us, and we reduced the size."

Nelsons supplied industrial silos to Melbourne businesses, as well as delivering them to Gippsland, which meant passing through the city.

"Going back in history, we did a trip that cost us more than $50,000," he said.

"At that stage, we decided that was it, and we would cut the size down.

"It's something that can't be fixed easily; we are stuck with the power lines where they are, and we have to work around it."

Glenn Barber, Barber Engineering, Horsham, who produces farm equipment such as chaser bins, said he was reluctant to make anything higher than 4.9m.

"I do know it opens a can of worms when you go above that height," Mr Barber said.

"It's a huge job, getting permits."

Victorian Farmers Federation grains group president Ash Fraser said the permit system was "shocking".

Mr Fraser said he had heard of manufacturers who had employed a staff member, solely dedicated to navigating the permit system.

"I can never understand how they do that survey, as they would have a file on everywhere a power line crosses a road," he said.

He said he felt Powercor put permit applications in the "too hard" basket.

"'They don't regard it as a priority, in their system," he said.

Mr Fraser said that might result in movements, for which farmers and manufacturers did not apply for permits.

"We don't want regulatory burdens that either stifle progress or make it that hard that the attitude is 'I'll do it illegally because I can't comply'," he said.

A Powercor spokesperson said safety was its number one priority.

Companies applied for permits through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator and, as part of the application, Powercor was required to conduct a survey of the proposed route.

The survey identified whether the heavy vehicle was able to safely travel through the proposed route underneath power lines, or whether they would require assets to be raised/lifted or relocated permanently.

It required crews to physically measure the height of power lines crossing roads along the proposed route.

"The survey charge covers the cost of this work conducted by our crews," the spokesperson said.

The survey process was currently being reviewed, to make it easier and more efficient for customers.