Scheme to compensate Victorian farmer for hosting new high-voltage powerlines proposed

Farmers for Climate Action launched a video with farmers calling for annual payments to allow lines on property, which currently is not in effect.

The group's chief executive officer Fiona Davis said transmission lines on farmland would allow for cheaper power bills.

But farmers needed to get sufficient compensation for it.

"We know that Australia-wide, we need to roll out something like 10,000 kilometres of transmission lines by 2030 to be able to support the rollout of renewables," Dr Davis said.

"If we don't get the process right it will become increasingly difficult to do that work and ultimately, if power lines are going across farmers properties, that's using their land, and we need to make sure they're being paid fairly for that," she said.

She said transmission lines are an "opportunity for farmers" and "a way for companies to get social license".

"A lot of these agreements are made individually, and what we need is an open conversation and a way for farmers to know that what they're getting is a fair deal.

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"Having an annual payment like rent can make a real difference for farm incomes.

"The money that comes to farmer's pockets from this is actually supporting more resilient communities.

"In a hard year, it can be the difference between being able to go out for dinner at the local pub or not, so it can support regional communities to really continue to employ people in regions during tough times."

In October, the NSW Government announced they would launch a scheme where farmers get paid $10,000 a year for 20 years for every kilometre of transmission line on their property.

This is on top of an existing one-off payment they'd receive when the lines are installed.

But in Victoria, farmers have vehemently opposed transmission lines, the most vocal being from communities in the west who have formed many groups opposing the route of the Western Renewables Link.

In Gippsland, farmers have also been vocal about a recently-announced AusNet proposal to build a transmission line through properties to a terminal station at Hazelwood.

However, the early stages of community engagement are still underway there.

Farmers have also been calling for lines to go underground, but Dr Davis said the Farmers for Climate Action is "agnostic as to the way to do it".

"If it stacks up, let's do it, but what we understand is that putting transmission lines on the ground is generally cost-prohibitive.

"It could actually have negative impacts on farmers down the line if we need to do repair work... it could result in destruction of crops and farmlands to actually reach them."

Goat farmer Jo Freeman, Moorabool, featured in the video and said it was vital that the general public knew how the consultation of projects like the Western Renewables Link had been handled.

"It's really important that we have renewables in the grid, and I'm very pro-renewable energy, but there's not a lot of community consultation, especially around these projects, or at least, the consultation seems very superficial," she said.

If a proposed option for a transmission line route that goes through her property is green-lit, Ms Freeman said it would result "in higher fencing costs" and reduce the area for her to farm her goats.

Ms Freeman also believes a payment option proposed would mean when a corridor is picked, "there would be more meaningful consultation at the onset".

Farmer Emma Muir, Myrniong, who is also the chair of the Moorabool Central Highlands Power Alliance that opposes the Western Renewables Link route declined to comment on compensation.

However, she referred to a statement her group released after the NSW government scheme announcement which advocated for "a more environmentally sound project, not steel towers".

"Communities and landholders alike are standing firm, [and] there is no price that would see us sit back and watch the destruction of our homes, our farms, our environment and our communities," part of the statement said.