Another row has been triggered by an offer from a power company to pay Victorian farmers $10,000 each to access their land to plan the route for controversial new power lines.
The state government is trying to fast track plans to settle on a route across the north-west of the state to start building its renewable energy connections to the electricity grid.
Victorian farmers and rural communities have ramped up their opposition to the controversial power transmission network in recent weeks, with even bigger protests planned.
The latest upset has been caused by advice made public last week on land access and compensation proposed for the VNI West transmission project.
The Victorian Farmers Federation claims the advice is misleading and was designed to "pressure" farmers to sign away access to their land.
"The tactics used by the Australian Energy Market Operator to try and coerce farmers into signing away their rights is shameful and is yet another example of the way they have acted in bad faith with farming communities," VFF president Emma Germano claimed.
The race to net zero emission targets has failed to properly consider rural landowners and country communities, they claim.
By one estimate, almost 28,000km of new transmission lines will be needed across Australia to meet those targets, often criss-crossing valuable farm land.
Financial inducements to help speed up the Victoria to NSW "interconnector project" or VNI West have so far failed to appease protesting rural communities.
Planners want to refine a 5-50km-wide "area of interest" to a 500m to 1km corridor in the next couple of months and is aiming to identify the final easement for the project in 2025, ahead of construction starting in 2026.
Transmission Company Victoria has been holding a series of meeting in central and northern regions to outline its latest plans to "refine the route".
That route is for a new high voltage overhead transmission line to run from Dinawan in NSW to Bulgana in western Victoria, where it will connect to Western Renewables Link.
TCV, an offshoot of the Australian Energy Market Operator, says it will publish a narrower 500m-1km corridor, which will be further refined to a 200m-400m indicative route towards the end of the year.
"Comprehensive environmental assessments will be conducted over a 12 to 18 month period in the next phase of the project," TCV said.
AEMO has been told to progress the VNI-West No. 5 route to connect the Victoria and NSW energy grids.
TCV's guide includes negotiating access to land along the proposed route for "environmental field studies".
TCV says it will start contacting landholders "in coming weeks", appointing a liaison for each property owner or farmer in the study corridor as their main point of contact with the project.
TCV spokeswoman Nicola Falcon said TCV was committed to treating all landholders with respect and decency, and to ensure all property owners and farmers are fairly recognised and compensated where transmission is required to be located on their land.
"This will include liaising with landholders where access may be required for field work such as environmental surveys or geotechnical investigations," she said.
"TCV will request consent to access private property and a Land Access Agreement will be negotiated with the landholder detailing the agreed conditions including specific local biosecurity requirements. The landholder will receive a payment of $10,000 for participating in the survey access process, on signing the agreement."
While land owners can apply for $1000 for independent legal advice on the agreement, it is further advice in the TCV "guide" which has alarmed the VFF.
The access agreement is for two years.
While TCV agrees it cannot currently access private land without the consent of the landholder but an "electricity corporation" can under section 93 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000.
In its guide TCV says "in the future" it "may become" an electricity corporation which would allow it to force access.
VFF president Ms Germano said: "AEMO and TCV have not been issued a licence by the Essential Services Commission, and therefore have no ability to force entry onto farms."
"It is unconscionable that AEMO would be offering a $10,000 inducement for farmers to give up access to their land, otherwise they'll use legal powers to force entry, when they do not have that power."
"Farmers won't let authorities run over the top of their rights and the Victorian government has a responsibility to ensure that farmers are not taken advantage of," Ms Germano said.
In Victoria, the government is offering farmers and other rural property owners $8000 per year per kilometre of transmission lines hosted for 25 years, or $200,000.
NSW farmers will get $10,000 per year over 20 years for each kilometre of line they have to host although the total is still the same.
The Queensland government has offered an average $300,000 per kilometre, and compensation for nearby neighbours as well.
In a response to the VFF's comments, TCV's Nicola Falcon said: "New transmission built in the right places will play an important role in keeping the lights on for all Victorians.
"The right place for VNI West needs to be based both on the information we get from the community, and the needs of electricity customers across Victoria.
"We will be talking to farmers to help work out where the project will be built and how farming and transmission can exist side by side," she said.
"When we need to build part of the line on a particular property, landholders will be fairly compensated.
"We also want to work with groups like the VFF, to make sure we are talking to the right people."
Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
