Council fight pays off

CARDINIA Shire mayor Bill Pearson has welcomed Premier John Brumby’s announcement that the State Government would prefer to have powerlines for the desalination plant put underground.
Cr Pearson said the council had spent more than $350,000 fighting the State Government’s proposal for overhead powerlines and had always maintained that the project must not have any detrimental visual or economic impacts on the Cardinia Shire.
“Initially we weren’t being listened to and that’s fair to say,” he said.
“It’s been a year-long process that’s taken all of Alan Fraser’s (Power Grid Option Group chairman) year and a lot of Garry McQuillan’s (Cardinia Shire chief executive) and a fair bit of our time as councillors.
“We’ve strongly opposed the prospect of overhead powerlines for the desalination plant being strung up over prime agricultural areas and sensitive environmental zones such as the Kooweerup swamp and National Trust recorded land around Heath Hill.”
Cr Pearson noted that Mr Brumby’s announcement acknowledged the impact overhead powerlines would have on landowners, farmers and other people living and working in the area.
However, he said the council would need to continue to press its case for underground power as a final decision on the plant’s power source wouldn’t be made until the State Government considered bids from the two private sector consortia: BassWater and AquaSure.
“We are optimistic that commonsense will prevail,” Cr Pearson said.
“Council has worked in partnership with the Power Grid Option Group and other stakeholders to develop a business case that clearly demonstrates underground power can be achieved at a cost comparable to that of overhead power.”