The Western Victoria Transmission Network Project team is listening to your concerns about bushfires and we are committed to addressing these and other topics through regular updates, community forums and direct engagement.
The input you are providing by mapping areas that are important to you is helping the project team to narrow the corridor for the new transmission infrastructure.
AusNet Services actively monitors our assets and fires from our control room. We work closely with Emergency Management Victoria who would advise us to turn the power off for safety reasons if needed in an emergency.
We also have a rigorous regulatory vegetation management program eliminating vegetation fuel loads in our easements, which are wide enough to ensure that if a tree were to fall, it would not be able to reach the towers.
In the 96-year history of the Transmission Network in Victoria it has never been the cause of a bushfire. We regularly patrol and maintain transmission easements which can offer important protections by acting as a fire break.
More recently, the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission found transmission networks have never started a bushfire.
We encourage you to get in touch with the project team if you would like more information. A new fact sheet outlining the approach taken to reduce fire risk is also now available at: https://www.westernrenewableslink.com.au/62122/widgets/312640/documents/183865*.
You can also call 9021 0674 or email info@westernrenewableslink.com.au.
In addition to our engagement, the recently announced Environment Effects Statement (EES) process will also provide for a transparent, integrated assessment of potential environmental impacts, including bushfires. This independent process which is managed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DWELP).
*This fact sheet was replaced with the AusNet Services Managing Fire Risk Electricity Transmission fact sheet and the Preliminary EES Information Sheet for Existing Conditions - Bushfire fact sheet in 2021.