To Whom it may Concern,

I am deeply disturbed by the proposal for Hunter Transmission project, and saddened by the complete lack of regard for our forrests, our wildlife and our community. This is a huge environmental impact and a loss we can not afford to take. It is our duty and our responsibility to care for and protect our flora and fauna for our future generations.

"Clearing land

This section of the transmission corridor involves clearing 761 hectares (1,880 acres) of native vegetation. It also means creating or upgrading hundreds of roads and tracks to access each of the towers.

Some of this is on private land, but the majority is through State Forests. There is an already cleared corridor a few km to the north, which EnergyCo could have used. Someone just drew a line on a map and decided to put it there. No community input. Roads everywhere and massive cleared corridors means more burnt out cars, crime and idiots.

Massive impact on biodiversity

Direct impact to 38 threatened flora

Direct impact to 28 threatened fauna

Other impacts on 4 threatened birds and 4 threatened mammals

Serious and irreversible impacts to 16 hectares, containing 8 threatened flora and 7 threatened fauna species" Impacted by Hunter Transmission site.

I strongly oppose this proposal and feel it will deeply impact not only our environment but our community in ways we can not afford.

Kindest regards

I am a proud Indigenous woman and our Watagan State Forest means a great deal to me and my connection to country and many in the area including non-indigenous Australians feel the same way.

The land may not seem sacred to large corporations and greed but it is to me and the many locals who visit that forest. You will be culling many rare and endangered flora fauna and many, many hidden species that habitate that land.

I am whole heartedly against the Huntet Transmission for the following;
A bit of the transmission corridor is on private property, but the majority goes through State Forest. Yes, the same State Forest that we all own and enjoy. The beautiful Watagans, Corrabare & Pokolbin State Forests.

EnergyCo have essentially approved themselves to clear a huge corridor through our stunning forests.

Clearing our trees, our native wildlife, and destroying our bushwalks and campgrounds. Who wants to go on a bushwalk along a massive transmission corridor covered in weeds, rubbish and burnt out cars? Or try to enjoy a picnic next to a humming 500kv tower?

Clearing land

This section of the transmission corridor involves clearing 761 hectares (1,880 acres) of native vegetation. It also means creating or upgrading hundreds of roads and tracks to access each of the towers.

Some of this is on private land, but the majority is through State Forests. There is an already cleared corridor a few km to the north, which EnergyCo could have used. Someone just drew a line on a map and decided to put it there. No community input. Roads everywhere and massive cleared corridors means more burnt out cars, crime and idiots.

Massive impact on biodiversity

Direct impact to 38 threatened flora

Direct impact to 28 threatened fauna

Other impacts on 4 threatened birds and 4 threatened mammals

Serious and irreversible impacts to 16 hectares, containing 8 threatened flora and 7 threatened fauna species

In conclusion, I am thoroughly against the clearing of land and the fact that it was made not so simple to submit an objection is tells me a lot. Making an account to object as per my rights, ridiculous.

As part of the review of this important project we would like to highlight the opportunities to both future proof the investment and to mitigate the impact of the project on the environment, local communities and other land users. Details of these opportunities and benefits are included in the attachment.

It is very clear that if the transmission line was moved approx 600m back toward Wollombi where it goes through the millfield/Congewai creek valley next to Gorokan, the impacts would be hugely reduced on both landowners and small businesses who rely on tourist visits and reviews to survive. I had the energyco people come out to my property and state that we and the other small businesses would be strongly impacted by the project going through the millfield valley (called the Congewai Creek valley in your EIS I believe). They stated, in person, they would create montages for us to show us the impacts. They are now saying they refuse to include us because we are outside the 1.65km zone even though they have already confirmed the impacts would be severe and agreed to provide this documentation. They refuse to do any sight visits from an area which has been identified as significant visuals, with small businesses relying on tourist visits and feedback, and instead will only do sight visits from Wollombi Road. We will also be heavily impacted by heavy vehicles and no one will provide information about what this will actually mean so it is hard to provide facts in an objection when they are not being provided.

Please find attached objection.

I am shocked to see how many trees are being cut for a green project. Only existing transmission line corridors should be used

HTP EIS Submission
We are the proprietors of “Millbrook Estate” a boutique winery / distillery at Hunter Road Millfield. We also have a tourist cottage and our private dwelling on the property with access from Mount View Rd about 1km west of Millfield. We are the first winery / cellar door on the sign posted Mount View tourist route / wine trail.
We are currently on holiday overseas (until end September) and only became aware of the EIS exhibition courtesy of advice from neighbours. We are rather stunned that so little time is available for affected parties to review the EIS. EnergyCo has been working on this scheme for 3 years and told us the proposal would be on display in early 2025. This is dreadfully unfair and it seems obvious they are not really interested in a community response. In fact we hear that they have already started purchasing affected properties, doing road test investigations and have commenced the construction tender process.
In the present circumstances we have no practical opportunity to review the documents (which we understand to be enormous) nor to make any comprehensive feedback. However, we offer the following limited comments that indicate our worry that this project will have a serious impact on our business and also on the quality of our living environment. If the building of the project is like this EIS review stage then we feel like our business will be steamrolled
Being on a low ridge above Wollombi Brook, the property has spectacular sweeping views to the west and right around to the north east, including an outstanding skyline formed by the Mt Baker ridge and the Corrabare and Watagan ranges. The attached photo provides an indication of the landscape view from the cellar door. All indications are that we will see some of the towers and cables and that will be an unwelcome impact on these views which are a key feature of the cellar door experience.
Our business is heavily reliant on car based visitors and small bus groups (less than 10 people). Repeat business and word of mouth referrals from those customers is very important. We understand Wollombi Rd and Mount View Rd will be have a big increase in construction traffic including many heavy vehicles and this will continue for up to three years. The ability to access the property during that time will be essential and with the minimum of disruption or delay. We are very concerned that tour operators will simply seek other winery stops if access becomes a hassle, as they need to work to carefully planned day circuits through the valley.
The condition of Mount View Rd is another aspect that gives us real concern. It currently takes very low traffic numbers (probably less than 100 vehicles a day) as it only serves a quiet rural area and tourists heading over Mount View. The sealed surface is in poor condition and the heavy traffic increase for construction will very quickly cause the road to break up. Unless there is a clear responsibility for EnergyCo to firstly improve and then regularly maintain Mount View Rd we would expect our winery visitation to quickly decrease.
Our customers come to the winery and cottage for an enjoyable experience and we need them to go home with a positive perception – so they will come again and also relay the experience to others. Views of parts of a transmission line on the spectacular ridgelines, disrupted access, construction related traffic noise and a crumbling road are not the ingredients for the success of our business – on the contrary, these issues present a serious risk to our business and livelihood and hence a lot of stress.
There are many wineries in the Hunter Valley, MIllbrook Estate being situated on the edge of the Hunter relies on the beautiful location surrounding our property. All of the visitors comment on this stunning location. Attached is a snapshot that will be very sadly compromised. We are very fearful regarding the disruption to accessing our Winery both short and on completion long term. We believe this will disruption is going to have a huge impact to our financial situation, with currently no suggestion from anyone regarding compensation.
We would like to be assured the above issues can be managed with real commitment by EnergyCo in consultation with Cessnock Council. We also request that any approval by your Department has strict requirements about the responsibilities of the construction company appointed.
Chris & Paula White