ENERGYCO staff were kept busy at Armidale Town Hall on Monday, March 25, presenting latest plans for a corridor of transmission lines and towers to serve New England's renewable energy zone.
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Staff advised and discussed the reworked corridor with dozens of visitors, including leaders from the Indigenous and business community, as well as concerned residents and farmers.
The meeting was organised after a community backlash over the original corridor, which runs just south of Walcha to north of Glen Innes.
A similar meeting will be held in Tamworth on March 26, 2024.
Latest plans show the corridor has been reduced by 39 kilometres, with six kilometres of lines running across public land.
The corridor largely follows the route of existing lines and towers. It starts from Walcha Road, taking a dog leg through Kentucky before forking into Kingstown Road towards Yarrowyck and the New England Highway to Gostwyck.
It will be complemented with four energy hubs, which will transfer power generated by solar and wind farms to electricity consumers.
On Monday, March 30 the state government authority held a community information session at the town hall, for further further input and advice.
"We want to present to the community where we're up to with the planned transmission lines," New England renewable energy zone regional director Alex Hall said.
"We will continue community consultation and technical studies to refine the transmission alignment and will be lodging a detailed scoping report in the coming months."
Lauren Buchanan, a senior environmental scientist with GeoLink, said the company had a great interest in renewable energy.
"I've come today to see if there is an alternative to above ground transmission lines," Ms Buchanan said.
Thelma Kelly is a Gunbaingar traditional owner. She attended the information session to share her ancestors' history and ask more about the corridor and sacred sites.
"We're in favour of the renewable energy zone, however, we want to ensure transmission lines are not in the way of our walking trails," Ms Kelly said.
"We have sacred sites in Black Mountain and Mount Duval and these need protecting."
The five-hour information session was free and included displays of maps and key information.
With an intended network capacity of eight gigawatts, the New England renewable energy zone will be the largest in NSW.
It is tipped to deliver up to $10.7 billion in private sector investment and attract more than 200 operational and construction jobs to the region.
A second community meeting will be held at the Tamworth Community Event Centre, on Darling Street, between 2pm and 7pm, on March 26.
