Riverina councillor Hansie Armour calls for underground powerlines as parliamentary inquiry comes to region

On Wednesday a standing committee from the NSW Upper House will be visiting Tumut as part of the inquiry into the feasibility of putting transmission infrastructure for regional renewable energy projects underground.

It comes as Transgrid progresses its plans for one of the state's largest energy infrastructure projects, a new 500kV Humelink transmission line, set to connect Wagga to the southeastern town of Maragle, and Bannaby in the Southern Tablelands.

The project will traverse the Snowy Valleys local government area and councillor Hansie Armour said there is a strong swell of support against it.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Cr Armour said a key concern was the impact the towers will have on the environment.

"The towers are close to 80 metres high and equivalent to the [pillars] of the Sydney Harbour Bridge... and they are going to right across the top of our our hills," she said.

"From a community and council perspective, when people look from Carey Street across to Gundagai, they will see massive towers... above the roofs of our community.

"I don't think people quite realise the impact it is going to have on the community."

Cr Armour said another key issue was the fire hazard caused by above ground powerline infrastructure.

"The fire risk is huge," she said.

Cr Armour said the Humelink project is set to go through farming properties impacted by the Dunns Road fire that devastated the region in the Black Summer bushfires.

"From a farmer's perspective... especially those who have come through the recent Dunns Road fire, that is having a huge emotional impact on them now," she said.

"They are not over the last fire yet.

"We know the RFS will not fight fires under those lines, and we're also not allowed to fight fires under them.

"Transgrid can't tell us how we will stop fires if they pass under those lines."

Cr Armour is also personally impacted by the project, with the route set to bisect her Bookham farm, and believes it's irresponsible not to put the lines underground.

The purpose of HumeLink is to reinforce the power grid across the region and increase transmission capacity between new generation sources such as solar farms.

But while Cr Armour believes the intention is good, it needs to be done in a sustainable way for future generations.

"We don't need to do the project this way," she said.

"It needs to be done in such a way that it will still be beneficial in 100 years time and our children won't have to rebuild it.

"In America, Canada and Europe they are now pulling out the overhead lines and putting them underground."

The committee is holding a public hearing on Wednesday at the Tumut Golf Club with witnesses invited from 1pm to 3pm.

The committee will then hold a public forum to provide members of the community an opportunity to voice their opinion, from 3pm-4.30pm.

Following the forum, the hearing will resume and have one final session from 4.30pm-5pm.

Committee chair Emily Suvaal MLC said the inquiry has already received hundreds of written submissions from the community and various organisations.

"Community input is vital so we can make recommendations to the government on what will work best for the people of New South Wales," Ms Suvaal said.

"The committee wants to know community concerns regarding overhead transmission lines and understand the cost and benefits of putting that infrastructure underground."

Further details of the public hearings and forum will be published on the inquiry webpage as they become available.

The hearings and public forum will be broadcast live on the NSW Parliament's website: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Pages/webcasts.aspx

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: