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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Matthew Kelly

Holy cow! Revised Hunter Transmission Project route reduces community impacts

The number of private landowners affected by the Hunter Transmission Project has been reduced from 78 to less than 25 as a result of major revisions to the project's corridor.

The Hindu community's 550-acre New Gokula Farm at Millfield is among the properties no longer in the project's path.

A revised route map for the project shows 85 per cent of the $1 billion infrastructure project will now be built on power station, government and mining land.

It follows 250 submissions about the project's preliminary corridor, which was released late last year.

Hunter Transmission Project preliminary route map.

The 100 kilometre project involves the construction of new overhead 500 kilovolt transmission infrastructure to connect Bayswater and Eraring power stations.

The project, which the government wants commissioned by 2028, will transport electricity from the New England and Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zones to the Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra.

Under the revised plan, the southern end of the route now avoids Cooranbong and Martinsville.

This has been made possible by building a new substation in the Olney State Forest on a site that was previously used for growing commercial timber.

The substation will also shorten the overall project length by about 15 kilometers.

"Not having to cross the motorway and totally avoid those two communities has really contributed to reducing the overall number of landowners under the corridor," EnergyCo Chief Executive James Hay said on Wednesday.

"There are swings and roundabouts with all of these things; we are moving to a different terrain and we're not building a substation next to the existing substation at Eraring. While we might save on the cost of extra lines and towers, we have considerations around making it less visible and operating as part of the system."

There will also be fewer impacts to private land in the northern and central sections of the route.

New Gokula Farm manager Pratapana with one of the property's cows. Photo by Marina Neil.

The project's footprint through Cedar Creek, Millfield and Laguna has been significantly modified to minimise impacts on landowners in the central zone (Pokolbin to Corrabare).

The New Gokula Hare Krishna Community at Millfield is no longer in the project corridor.

In the northern end (Bayswater to Broke), the revised corridor now runs through the Hunter Valley Operations mine to minimise impacts on the Maison Dieu community.

Efforts have also been made to minimise impacts in state forest areas that are culturally significant for First Nations peoples including scenic landscapes and sight lines.

Community engagement in the revised corridor is ongoing in an effort to minimise landholder and environment impacts.

"There's all sorts of levels of negotiation on a major project such as this. We'll be coming back and talking a lot more to the key stakeholders," Mr Hay said.

"I can't stress how important it is for people to come and talk to us. We have always responded when they have reached out."

A scoping report for the project has been lodged with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.

An Environmental Impact Statement is due to be put on public exhibition later this year. Construction is due to start in 2026.

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