Snowy 2.0 - Transmission Connection

Please find attached a submission from Greg Piper MP for Lake Macquarie.

I object to the application in its current form.
I do not believe the Application can be dealt with without an amendment to the KNP Plan of Management
At the time the applicant lodged the application there was no required amendment of the POM

There is a Crown Public Road that may be affected by the proposal. Should the Crown Public Road be required, either during the construction phase, or in an ongoing capacity, the Crown Public Road is to be transferred to Council, or the proponent is to make application to close and purchase the Crown Road. If applicant needs to make application to close and purchase the road, a licence agreement must be in place before works begin.

Please see attached letter.

Attached.

Please find attached GSNSW response.

Dear Anthony,
As discussed yesterday, attached are the Heritage NSW comments for Aboriginal cultural heritage matters attached.
Regards,
Jackie

The NSW EPA has reviewed the EIS for the proposed project and provides detailed comment and recommendations in the attached letter

I strongly object to overhead transmission lines infrastructure within Kosciuszko National Park on the following grounds:
The last major transmission line to be constructed in a NSW National Park was in the 1970’s, and in Kosciuszko National Park (KNP) in the 1960’s, half a century ago.
Long-accepted ‘practice’ throughout Australia and overseas is to prohibit new overhead lines in National Parks.
The KNP Plan of Management (POM) requires any additional transmission lines in the Park to be located underground.
Shamefully, the NSW Government has issued a draft amendment to the POM exempting the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project from having to underground its transmission connection.
The proposed Snowy 2.0 lines would be far more intrusive than existing single-circuit transmission lines in the Park – comprising four 330 kV overhead lines, with two sets of massive 75-metre-high towers traversing eight kilometres of Kosciuszko over a cleared swathe up to 200 metres wide. One hundred and forty hectares of KNP and Bago State Forest will be permanently cleared. The towers and lines will be visible over an astonishing 250 square kilometres.
One square kilometre of National Park will be permanently cleared along the path of the transmission lines. The lines will be visible over a vast area, totally destroying the ambience and habitat integrity of this remote and largely pristine region.
Species impacted by habitat clearing along the route include the Yellow bellied glider, Squirrel glider, Eastern Pygmy possum, Gang Gang Cockatoo, Powerful Owl, Masked Owl and the Boorolong Frog.
The EIS is totally inadequate in protecting the values of the Park and minimising the environmental impacts. The EIS should be withdrawn and resubmitted with a comprehensive analysis of underground alternatives and a proposal for an underground connection, in compliance with the POM and in keeping with world-best practice.
If the EIS is approved this NSW Government will be the first to condone overhead transmission lines in a National Park for 50 years – a tragic legacy, especially when there are viable underground alternatives.
The Kosciuszko National park is already under incredible stress from the bushfires which decimated much of the park last Summer, to the advancing effects of climate change. This area is already extremely fragile and cannot afford further destruction. Overhead Transmission lines are completely unnecessary and will cause unacceptable permanent damage to our beloved Kosciuszko National Park.

Letter attached. Copy emailed to Anthony Ko (DPIE) and Linda Butler (TransGrid)

TfNSW Response

I am a bushwalker, camper, climber, cross country skier and someone passionate about the environment.
This project will lead to the destruction of this part of Kosciuszko National Park and impact my visitation and spending in the local area.
Our collective responsibility is to protect National Parks for future generations, not for the commercial advantage of electricity companies.
I strongly object to any new overhead transmission lines through national parks, including Kosciuszko National Park.
The last major transmission line to be constructed in a NSW National Park was in the 1970’s, more than half a century ago.
Overhead transmission lines are no longer acceptable in environmentally sensitive locations such as national parks. Underground cables have less impact, last longer and are a far better option.
Since 2006, the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (POM) has required that any additional transmission lines in the Park be located underground.
It is outrageous that the NSW Government is looking to overturn this very reasonable policy so that TransGrid and Snowy Hydro Corporation can use a cheaper, outmoded and environmentally destructive option, ie. overhead lines.
The proposed overhead lines are far more visually intrusive than any of the existing single-circuit lines in the Park, with two sets of massive 75-metre-high towers traversing eight kilometres of Kosciuszko over a cleared swathe up to 200 metres wide. The towers and lines will be visible over an astonishing 250 square kilometres of wilderness.
One square kilometre of national park will be permanently cleared, decimating the habitat of threatened species such as Yellow bellied glider, Squirrel Glider, Eastern Pygmy Possum, Gang Gang Cockatoo, Powerful Owl, Masked Owl and the Boorolong Frog.
If such species aren’t safe in a national park where can they possibly survive?
The Environmental Impact Statement is totally inadequate and should be withdrawn. If resubmitted it should propose an underground connection, in compliance with the POM and in keeping with world-best practice.
If the EIS is approved this NSW Government will be the first to condone overhead transmission lines in a National Park for 50 years – a tragic legacy, especially when there are viable underground alternatives.
Kosciuszko National Park is already under incredible stress from the bushfires which decimated much of the park in 2019-20, to the advancing effects of climate change. This area is already extremely fragile and cannot afford further destruction. Overhead transmission lines are completely unnecessary and inflict totally unnecessary permanent damage to our beloved Kosciuszko National Park.

I am a regular visitor to Kosciuszko National Park both as a skier and camper.
I believe overhead transmission lines will create an unacceptable impact to the natural value of KNP, values that draw me and thousands of others to the area. Also the impact of clearing so much vegetation will have a huge impact on floral and fauna. I do not find it acceptable that natural vegetation will be ‘retained in the gullies’. This points to division of the area into corridors with negative impacts for plants and animals.
I am also very uncomfortable about damaging our precious national parks for the benefit of electricity companies.
Over transmission lines through national parks are an outdated means of transmission and were last used in the 70s in Kosciuszko National Park.
They are no longer acceptable in environmentally sensitive locations such as national parks. Underground cables have less impact, last longer and are a far better option.
Why is this proposal flying the face of the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (POM) which requires any additional transmission lines in the Park to be located underground.
It is outrageous that the NSW Government is looking to overturn this very reasonable policy so that TransGrid and Snowy Hydro Corporation can use a cheaper, outmoded and environmentally destructive option, ie. overhead lines.
The proposed overhead lines are far more visually intrusive than any of the existing single-circuit lines in the Park, with two sets of massive 75-metre-high towers traversing eight kilometres of Kosciuszko over a cleared swathe up to 200 metres wide. The towers and lines will be visible over an astonishing 250 square kilometres of wilderness.
One square kilometre of national park will be permanently cleared, decimating the habitat of threatened species such as Yellow bellied glider, Squirrel Glider, Eastern Pygmy Possum, Gang Gang Cockatoo, Powerful Owl, Masked Owl and the Boorolong Frog.
If such species aren’t safe in a national park where can they possibly survive?
The Environmental Impact Statement is totally inadequate and should be withdrawn. If resubmitted it should propose an underground connection, in compliance with the POM and in keeping with world-best practice.
If the EIS is approved this NSW Government will be the first to condone overhead transmission lines in a National Park for 50 years – a tragic legacy, especially when there are viable underground alternatives.
Kosciuszko National Park is already under incredible stress from the bushfires which decimated much of the park in 2019-20, to the advancing effects of climate change. This area is already extremely fragile and cannot afford further destruction. Overhead transmission lines are completely unnecessary and inflict totally unnecessary permanent damage to our beloved Kosciuszko National Park.

Please find attached .pdf document with my submission and letter to the Minister for the Environment, Matt Kean.

The beauty of the National Park should not be marred by the clearing of land and disruption of wildlife for the erection of these 75m towers. Power lines have been going underground for 40+ years and this project should be no different.
Surface power lines are at risk during bushfires but would be secure if underground.
Please reconsider this action and go for the sustainable option.
Thank you.

I am a bushwalker and have often walked in Kosciuszko National Park. It is a jewel of a Park. To think that transmission lines for the Snowy 2.0 project would be placed for considerable distances, disturbing and destroying the visual amenity of the Park, is abhorrent to me. There is an alternative, and that is to place the transmission lines underground. This preserves the visual amenity of this Park, while being safer in terms of bushfires and storms. This is a NATIONAL PARK, not a rural or suburban area. Its visual qualities MUST be preserved. I urge the Government to put the transmission lines underground for this costly project, which by itself, threatens the amenity of many areas of the Park.

I object to the proposal because it damages one of our most important national parks.
A dozen threatened species are affected by the project.
Large continuous natural areas are scarce in NSW, and this project will cause fragmentation of the park.
I request that the power line be put underground.
Judy Kelly.

I am writing to object to allowing any new overhead transmission lines in Kosciuszko National Park. National Parks are a public natural resource and legacy for future Australians they are not for destroying to provide commercial advantage for any private companies (or governments).

I am a bushwalker and camper and I have spent extremely relaxing and reviving times walking and camping in this environmentally and culturally important National Park.

The Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (POM) requires that any additional transmission lines in the Park be located underground. This is because overhead transmission lines are much more environmentally damaging than underground transmission lines. Overhead transmission lines also create a much greater bushfire hazard which should be avoided at all costs especially since the recent massive bushfires in this nationally important Park.

It is outrageous that the NSW Government is looking to overturn this very reasonable policy so that TransGrid and Snowy Hydro Corporation can use a cheaper, outmoded and environmentally destructive option of overhead transmission lines. They will also destroy the Park visually and make it much less inviting for visitors, including myself and family.

One square kilometre of national park will be permanently cleared, decimating the habitat of threatened species such as Yellow bellied glider, Squirrel Glider, Eastern Pygmy Possum, Gang Gang Cockatoo, Powerful Owl, Masked Owl and the Boorolong Frog. If such species aren’t safe in a national park where can they possibly survive?

If the current ineffective EIS is approved this NSW Government will be the first to condone overhead transmission lines in a National Park for 50 years – a tragic legacy, especially when there are viable underground alternatives. Kosciuszko National Park is already under incredible stress from the bushfires which decimated much of the park in 2019-20. This area is already extremely fragile and cannot afford further destruction. Overhead transmission lines are completely unnecessary and inflict totally unnecessary permanent damage to our beloved Kosciuszko National Park.

Please do not allow this destruction to proceed, there is no excuse for this kind of vandalism of public property.

Thank you,
Susan Ambler

Bushwalkers have viewed with alarm the ongoing degradation of Kosciuszko National Park from bushfires, feral animals and inappropriate development such as Snowy 2.0. The cumulative impacts from all of the above of which the transmission lines are just the latest is another setback for a national park which is under sustained stress. Bushwalking NSW Inc would prefer that the transmission lines are not built within the national park at all. However, if they are to proceed then they should be underground lines since these would have less environmental impact than overhead lines. We are aware that the proponent has argued that this option is more costly yet we are skeptical that the proponent has undertaken a thorough and independent analysis of the respective costs of each option. To sum up, there should be no more overhead transmission lines in Kosciuszko National Park.

I am writing to object to the building of overhead powerlines in the Kosciusko National Park. The adverse environmental impact of the Snowy2 project is already significant, putting in overhead lines will make it far worse. This is pure environmental vandalism!

Kosciuszko National Park is already under incredible stress from the bushfires which decimated much of the park in 2019-20, to the advancing effects of climate change, and the increasing numbers of feral animals and plants. This area is already extremely fragile and cannot afford further destruction. Overhead transmission lines are completely unnecessary and inflict totally unnecessary permanent damage to our beloved Kosciuszko National Park.

I regularly visit Kosciuszko National Park - camping/bushwalking/fly fishing in summer and back country skiing in winter. I enjoy the peace and serenity, getting away from the city and generally immersing myself in nature. I am already concerned about the adverse impact of the Snowy2 scheme, the justification for which is marginal, and am devastated that there will be such obvious visual pollution which will further severely diminish the sense of wilderness, let along the environmental damage caused by the clearing of massive swathes of bush underneath the powerlines.

Building overhead powerlines, and clearing the native vegetation beneath the lines, will be yet another severe blow to the park. Our National Parks are getting less and less funding, with the focus increasingly on what commercial gain can be made from them (iconic/commercial walks/tracks, increase in off road cycling etc). Rather than protecting our National Parks for future generations, the proposal for overhead powerlines will permanently diminish Kosciuszko National Park purely for the short-term commercial advantage of a couple of electricity companies. This is totally unacceptable.

The last major transmission line to be constructed in a NSW National Park was in the 1970’s, more than half a century ago. We now have the technology, and environmental awareness, to do otherwise. Since 2006, the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (POM) has required that any additional transmission lines in the Park be located underground as overhead transmission lines are no longer acceptable in environmentally sensitive locations such as national parks. Underground cables have less impact, last longer, and are more protected from the impact of severe weather events and bushfires and thus are a far more appropriate option.

It is outrageous that the NSW Government is looking to overturn this very reasonable policy so that TransGrid and Snowy Hydro Corporation can use a cheaper, outmoded and environmentally destructive option, ie. overhead lines. The proposed overhead lines are far more visually intrusive than any of the existing single-circuit lines in the Park, with two sets of massive 75-metre-high towers traversing eight kilometres of Kosciuszko over a cleared swathe up to 200 metres wide. The towers and lines will be visible over an astonishing 250 square kilometres of wilderness. However, even new single-circuit lines for this project are unacceptable!

I understand that one square kilometre of national park will be permanently cleared, decimating the habitat of threatened species such as Yellow bellied glider, Squirrel Glider, Eastern Pygmy Possum, Gang Gang Cockatoo, Powerful Owl, Masked Owl and the Boorolong Frog. This is totally unacceptable. If such species aren’t safe in a national park where can they possibly survive?

The Environmental Impact Statement is totally inadequate and should be withdrawn. If resubmitted it should propose an underground connection, in compliance with the POM and in keeping with world-best practice.

If the EIS is approved this NSW Government will be the first to condone overhead transmission lines in a National Park for 50 years – a tragic legacy, especially when there are viable underground alternatives.

I implore the NSW Government to abide by its environmental commitments and not commit to irreversible environmental vandalism.