Wednesday, 14 August 2024

Petitions

Ballarat East substation

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (17:48): I move:

That the petition be taken into consideration.

I will just cut straight to the chase: locals are up in arms against the substation planned to be at 203 York Street, Ballarat East. As the Olympics have just closed, it is like watching a volleyball match of ‘Who takes responsibility for this?’ It has been back and forth between the state government, Powercor, the Minister for Planning’s office and the City of Ballarat, with disinformation and deception characterising many actions that we have seen towards locals. Labor MPs have been dismissive and disinterested, and it was only when they got wind of this petition, that there was also a sudden resurgence of interest. What a surprise – it is like the gold medal of backflipping.

The site is currently part of the residual of an industrial zone in Ballarat East, but over the course of time what was envisaged originally as industrial Ballarat East has now developed into a residential area. Ballarat East is a beautiful suburb known for its close proximity to places like Sovereign Hill, the Eureka rebellion centre and Ballarat Wildlife Park. In short, the reasons why locals oppose the construction and the development of the substation are: (1) the proposed site sits right next to residential properties, literally next to families; (2) the site offers absolutely zero buffer zone, which means that the substation will literally be backing onto people’s backyards; (3) amenity – the visual impact is going to be bad enough, but this large metal structure that is going to be constructed will actually have a very annoying buzzing sound, and imagine trying to sleep with that on; (4) the impact on land valuations, which will be significant for locals, is a very real and negative impact that is possible; (5) poor consultation and mixed messages – Powercor have not been up-front or forthcoming with the community, sometimes confirming, sometimes denying that there even is going to be a substation planned there; (6) the health concerns that have been expressed by locals have basically fallen on deaf ears, particularly when you have got 66 kilovolt lines going right over the top; and (7) the environmental impacts on the substation of the nearby Pennyweight Gully, directly opposite to the planned substation, which is in the Yarrowee catchment.

Local Labor MPs have been at the whim of Powercor. They have failed to listen, failed to advocate and failed to understand the impact this has on locals. Alternative locations have not been fully considered, especially the ones that have been proposed by locals. I do not think anyone denies the need for cheap, reliable electricity but it needs to be done right – with proper consultation, genuine engagement and meaningful discussion. This clearly has not been the case – local MPs in Ballarat are basically culpable for not giving a damn.

The Minister for Energy and Resources Ms D’Ambrosio needs to act and act quickly, along with her counterpart Sonya Kilkenny, the Minister for Planning. I am calling on both of those ministers to act – to step up, to take responsibility and to cancel the substation at York Street in Ballarat. Other options which are further away from residential areas must be explored and even more so must be taken seriously. While we are at it, the minister for energy seriously needs to investigate the conduct of Powercor in all this. They have at a minimum been unprofessional towards locals but at worst have been downright mean.

I want to acknowledge the campaigners that have worked so hard to fight this, particularly those that are in the gallery today, Jenny Paterson and Annette McMaster, who really do have the intestinal fortitude that I wish this government had – two strong, capable women who are fierce advocates for their local communities. But there are many others that have over a long period of time fought for this as well.

I have heard anecdotally that witches hats are already up at the site and that work is almost ready to go, which is typical of this Labor government – bulldozing over communities which speak out against it. There is still time left. It is not too late if you care. The message to the government is clear and simple: do the right thing. Stop the construction of the substation in York Street in Ballarat.

Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (17:53): I would like to begin by thanking my colleague Joe – Mr McCracken – for bringing a voice for these residents into this chamber. I think that is a really important role that we all play, and I acknowledge those voices, so thank you.

I will give a little bit of background about the status of this land before I sort of go on to some other observations. The land at 203 York Street has been owned by Powercor and its predecessors for a long time. The site is zoned public use zone 1, which supports the use of land for provision of electricity, and this site has been zoned for the purpose of services and utilities since 1973. In the Ballarat planning scheme land zoned public use zone 1 for the provision of services and utilities does not require a planning permit, and Powercor have made it clear that their intention is to exercise their right to build a substation. I understand that local residents and the Ballarat City Council have concerns about the location of a proposed substation in York Street and the amenity effects that it might have on the surrounding area. It is the council’s responsibility to appropriately plan for housing and other uses in their municipality, and this site has repeatedly been identified by council for the use Powercor now intends to realise.

I want to acknowledge the people that signed the petition and expressed their concern about this. It reminds me greatly of my time on Warrnambool City Council, my time as a councillor and as a mayor. I appreciate their effort in giving the feedback and expressing their concerns. I remember attending planning application consultation meetings where on the one hand as a councillor you hear from local residents who might be concerned about a particular application, then you hear from applicants who own the land and are applying for a legitimate or appropriate use of that land according to its zoning and then you hear from the planning team at council who provide the technical assessment. My overwhelming memory is how impossible it is sometimes to please everybody and to meet the concerns of everybody, and I deeply feel that in this particular scenario.

The Ballarat East zone substation is proposed to be built at 203 York Street, which when I have a look, is not far from the Red Lion, which I remember. I did go to school in Ballarat, and I do remember the Red Lion Hotel. In fact I think we might have snuck in there on the way back from shopping on Friday night while I was there, so I know the area. Ballarat East is a beautiful suburb, and it deserves to be well planned. It deserves to have its existing community respected, but so do the owners of that piece of land. They have their rights and their status under the zoning of the land. There is no joy in this scenario. I just want to offer my level of respect and appreciation for bringing this forward and raising the issue.

If there is no joy in this scenario, the important thing is that into the future land use planning for new electricity infrastructure under the new SEC will be conducted with full consultation with communities. I implore this privately owned company to absolutely listen to the community and to consult with the community before they go ahead and do anything that they are planning to do. That is the most important thing that they should be doing, like every other private owner who is planning on investing and building in a particular area. I thank you for this opportunity, and I thank my colleague for bringing it forward.

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (17:59): I too want to acknowledge the thousands of community members who signed this petition and those who persisted with this campaign and thank Mr McCracken for sponsoring this petition in the Parliament. I think the petition demonstrates the strength of community feeling on the issue and the community’s frustration at the failure of the state government to listen and act on their concerns. What we have heard from the local members for this area are empty words and attempts to shift the responsibility to the council, despite the fact that the council has been advocating to the state government on their behalf on this issue.

The reality is that community wishes have been ignored in this process, and the state Minister for Planning has the power to intervene. It is becoming a familiar story with this Labor government, and it persists with this approach at its peril. Continual failure to listen to and engage with the community, failure to communicate transparently and failure to acknowledge and accept responsibilities that lie with state government show contempt for communities and only breeds resentment and anger. I will keep my contribution on this short, but I think this petition is a real sign of what this community has experienced and the fact that they feel they have not been listened to. This is really the only other avenue they can find to try and get their concerns heard, and we would urge the government to listen to the signatories of this petition.

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:00): I too join my colleagues from Western Victoria in thanking Mr McCracken for bringing the petition forward and the petitioners who worked so hard to gather the 2000 print signatures required to be able to ensure that this matter is brought before the Parliament in a debate today. Consultation is something that this government cannot approach in any way, shape or form, especially in the energy space. We have had years of lack of consultation over transmission lines across the Western Victoria Region. The government have been totally belligerent in their approach to how they deal with communities – communities being torn apart over the outrageous proposition of the Western Renewables Link and the VNI West proposal. It just happens every day.

We had Ms Ermacora suggest that the SEC would be a whole new world of consultation. I have got news for her: VicGrid is up and running, and there is no better consultation happening now than happened four years ago in relation to transmission lines and energy infrastructure. They do not care about communities, they do not care about the environment and they have no sympathy whatsoever for people being decimated by poor planning in the infrastructure in relation to the energy space. Until the government wake up and realise that they have a responsibility to ensure that communities are consulted, the environment is protected and we have infrastructure that is for the next hundred years, not the next election, we are going backwards in this state.

It is an appalling situation, and here is just a local example of how they have got it so wrong. I am disgusted that the local Labor members have failed to interact with the community group and petitioners. What do they think their job is as a local member if not to listen to the voices of their constituents? It is shameful for the Minister for Energy and Resources to take no interest, for the Minister for Planning to not intervene in this matter. As Dr Mansfield said, the Minister for Planning could intervene straightaway. She could order the witches hats to be removed tomorrow and Powercor to lay down their tools and find another spot for this piece of infrastructure.

The government have to stop running roughshod over individuals, over households, over communities. It has to end. If they do not do it in this instance, we know they are never going to do it anywhere. I have seen the devastation in lives and livelihoods from this proposal for the transmission projects across the region, into the outskirts of Ballarat, from Sydenham through to the New South Wales border now. It is just outrageous. Potato farms near Ballarat are under threat, the biolinks are under threat and here is a case of a piece of energy infrastructure in the middle of a housing area that probably should not go ahead, even if it was on the planning books since 1970 or whenever it was. They should have realised that they had allowed houses to be built around it, and that was a mistake of government and council. They should retract from that ridiculous situation, listen to these petitioners and stop Powercor acting any further. Let us get a proposal where we have infrastructure for energy and we get it right. Thank you to Mr McCracken, thank you to the petitioners, thank you to Dr Mansfield for her contribution and let us ensure that this ridiculous proposal ends now.

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (18:05): Thank you for all the contributions on this. I listened quite intently to the government speaker on this. Basically they said, ‘We hear you, but we don’t care. We’re going ahead anyway.’ They mentioned that the site had been put forward since 1973. Need I remind the house that that was 51 years ago. Things have changed since 1973. A whole community has grown up around this site, with neighbourhoods and real people that they say they represent, they say they care about. Clearly they do not. ‘Sorry, but tough luck’ is what the message was from the government. I have literally had people in tears over this. Their lives are being ruined. Their livelihoods, their houses, the homes that they brought up their kids in have been ruined because of this proposal, and the Minister for Planning, the Minister for Energy and Resources – where are they? Nowhere. They do not respond. They do not care. These are real people with real issues continuing to be ignored. Both ministers need to pull up their socks and act. The first thing they should do is come onsite and listen. That is all that is being asked of them: listen. Petitioners have been arguing for this for so long just to have a voice, just to be heard. The last thing we want is for a beautiful neighbourhood like Ballarat East to have a big, ugly substation rammed right in the middle of it. Of course if the government had listened, they would know that, and if they have been listening, they are not doing anything about it, which is typical.

Motion agreed to.