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Upcoming community engagement activity |
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Transgrid’s VNI West project team is planning for a new round of community engagement on the VNI West project. This email advises of the upcoming dates for engagement activity.
The purpose of this upcoming round of engagement is to advise of and seek feedback on a draft route report for VNI West, which is due to be published at the end of January 2024. |
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Draft Route Report |
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What is the Draft Route Report The Draft Route Report will show the preferred route that Transgrid is considering for VNI West in NSW. This report will detail how and why a preferred route was selected and other options that were considered and compared.
Similar to the Draft Corridor Report, Transgrid will be seeking community feedback on the Draft Route Report until early March 2024.
Where can I read the report? It’s not available just yet: Transgrid will send another email in about two weeks to advise how you can access the report.
In advance of the report, we wanted to share our planned engagement schedule with you, so that you’re aware of dates and can plan ahead should you wish to attend a session. |
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Upcoming engagement |
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Transgrid will host community engagement activities throughout February and early March 2024. The planned engagements are:
Presentation and Q&A sessions These sessions will be delivered in a ‘town hall’ style, with Transgrid sharing its insights on how the draft route was developed. Time will be allocated to asking questions of the project team. These sessions will be held at:
Please note: the Transgrid presentation will commence at the start time of each session.
Community Drop Ins Transgrid will host open door Drop Ins for community and landholders to come along, ask questions and provide feedback. The Drop Ins will be held at:
Moulamein [at Moulamein Bowling Club, Endeavour Drive]
Deniliquin
Barham [at CluBarham, cnr Murray and Neimur Streets]
Conargo [at Conargo Hall, Conargo Road]
Wanganella [at Wanganella Hall, cnr Cobb Highway and Lang Street]
Jerilderie
If you have any questions, please reach out to the project team on the details below.
Another email will be circulated later this month advising of the Draft Route Report and calling for feedback. |
November 2023 |
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VNI West is a proposed 500kV double circuit transmission line connecting the high voltage electricity grids in New South Wales and Victoria which will increase access to renewable energy sources and help Australia transition to clean, low-cost renewables. Transgrid is committed to providing opportunities for the community to participate in the VNI West project and provide valuable feedback. We appreciate and value the conversations and insights you have shared with the project team so far, and look forward to continued discussions as we move forward. |
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In this edition:
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Project update |
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News The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released its determination of a dispute lodged in response to the Project Assessment Conclusions Report (PACR) on 16 October 2023. The AER's determination means the project can now progress through the next phase of development, including the identification of a preferred route and lodging a scoping report, that allows us to commence the environmental approval process with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. Preferred corridor report Transgrid published its Preferred Corridor Report for VNI West (PDF 3.7MB) in October 2023. The report followed three months of community consultation During the consultation we spoke with more than 200 people across 16 What we've heard
This feedback led to a number of refinements to the corridor:
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Next step With the preferred corridor determined, Transgrid is working on more detailed investigations to identify potential route options, approximately 1km wide, within the corridor. Transgrid plans to publish a Draft Route Options Report in early 2024 and will seek feedback from the community during February 2024 on the route options. Following this consultation, Transgrid will determine a preferred route that will be progressed for detailed assessment as part of the planning approvals process. Transgrid is also engaging landholders in the expanded corridor to seek their input and address any queries they may have in relation to the final preferred corridor. If you are unsure of your property is in the expanded corridor or have any questions about the process please contact the project team on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us on 1800 955 588. |
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Route selection process |
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In the community |
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VNI West Community Consultative Group As part of Transgrid’s ongoing commitment to engage with local communities and stakeholders, a Community Consultative Group (CCG) has been formed. The CCG will work together with Transgrid to encourage and facilitate community participation in project planning. The CCG is made up of representatives from local councils, community groups and organisations as well as landholders and individual community members and seeks to:
The first CCG convened on November 1. The content and minutes from the first CCG meeting is available on the project website. If you would like more information about the CCG, please email the CCG Secretariat: Reem Nasr, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Working with Landholders Transgrid is continuing to seek meetings with landholders whose property is within the preferred corridor. The purpose of these meetings is to provide information about the project, and to better understand local land usage so that we can consider this information when identifying a preferred route. We may also seek to work with landholders to access properties to conduct field surveys. Providing access to Transgrid for these surveys does not mean your property would automatically be included in the preferred route. Surveys are simply a means of collecting and validating data, including environmental, ecological, heritage and geotechnical, that informs route selection. If you are unsure of your property is in the expanded corridor or have any questions about the process please contact the project team on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us on 1800 955 588. Community Partnerships Program Transgrid supports local, grassroots initiatives by providing grants in areas where our assets are located or under development. Our Community Partnerships Program is designed to help not-for-profit groups to deliver initiatives that will have a tangible and lasting impact on local communities. Applicants can apply for funding of up to $5,000 per community initiative. The next round of applications will be called in March 2024. For more information on dates and the application process,please visit our website or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Transgrid