Farmers Fightback says the State Government has ‘formally declared war on the farming communities of western Victoria’ through its declaration of
renewable energy zones across the state.
Farmers Fightback is calling on the government to immediately revoke the western REZ declaration, declare the eastern section an ‘avoidance area’, and conduct a ‘genuine, independent review that respects the No REZ Map, biodiversity mapping, and the sentiment of the community’.
The government formally declared late last month five onshore renewable energy zones – south-west, central highlands, Gippsland, western and north-west – as well as the
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Gippsland Shoreline Renewable Energy Zone.
The establishment of the zones is intended to support the co-ordinated development of renewable-energy projects, including wind, solar and battery storage, while reducing the need for unnecessary transmission infrastructure.
In western Victoria, an area near Balmoral originally proposed as a REZ has been put on hold, while the east section of the western zone, in the Northern Grampians Shire, has been significantly reduced.
But Farmers Fightback – formerly called Wallaloo and Gre Gre District Alliance – has hit back at the energy plan, describing it as ‘industrialising hundreds of thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land across the Wimmera and western districts – one of Victoria’s most productive food bowls’.
Farmers Fightback spokesperson Marcia McIntyre said the declaration was made in full knowledge that
a majority of affected landowners – nearly 90 per cent in the eastern section of the western zone – had ‘explicitly and repeatedly rejected
it’.
“We are bitterly disappointed and angry,” she said.
“The government has looked thousands of farming families in the eye and told them their voices are worthless.
“We submitted hundreds if not thousands of objections. We created the No REZ Map showing over 600,000 hectares of land that will not host renewables.
“They ignored every single one of us. How will a REZ work where no one will allow renewables? This declaration feels threatening and malicious.”
The east section of the zone will be heavily affected by the Victoria New South Wales Interconnector, VNI, West project, which will connect energy systems in Victoria and New South Wales, starting at Bulgana, east of Stawell.
The project has been met with criticism by affected landowners where the transmission line is proposed to be built.
Ms McIntyre said the government was going to force renewable energy infrastructure onto farmers’ land.
She said Farmers Fightback, together with local communities, fought the proposed REZ from the beginning,
engaging in good faith at every consultation session, drop-in, and meeting.
“VicGrid told us they heard us. They told us they were listening,” she said.
“Then they drew a line around our farms and called it an energy zone.
“This is not consultation. This is a government that has decided our land is more useful to them as an industrial site than as the productive farmland it has been for generations.”
A ‘No REZ Map’ documents about 600,000 hectares of land where owners have registered their refusal to host renewable energy infrastructure. It shows 80-90 per cent opposition in the eastern section of the western REZ.
Northern Grampians Shire Council last year formally opposed the originally proposed Grampians Wimmera REZ.
“Ninety per cent of landowners said no. The council said no. The community said no,” Ms McIntyre said.
“The government said ‘we don’t care’. This is not democracy. This is a land grab, and we will fight it with everything we have.”
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