Tamworth farmer Daniel Moore knows he has no choice about the NSW government building transmission lines through his Loomberah property and he is not happy about it.
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"We didn't sign up for this voluntarily like it's a wind farm or a solar farm or anything else renewable," Mr Moore said.
"We've had it [transmission lines] inflicted on us. We don't have a choice. If we buck too much...they'll ride clean over the top of us."
Mr Moore was among a roomful of NSW Farmers' members from the New England region who turned up to the private EnergyCo meeting at the West Diggers Club in Tamworth, on August 8.
Three EnergyCo representatives were there to provide farmers with more information about the state government's plan to build the high voltage power lines and towers through their NSW properties.
It's all in the transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy so privately-owned wind factories and solar factories in the area can hook up to the grid and supply power to homes and businesses.
Mr Moore said when contractors, reportedly hired by EnergyCo, sat around his kitchen table a while ago, they told him he would be compensated for any loss to his business or devaluation of his property due to the transmission lines.
But at the meeting, he said he found out there would be no such compensation.
Mr Moore said he was told the government would buy the approximate three or four kilometres long, and about 140 metres wide, piece of land where the two transmission lines on his land will go, but that he won't be paid for any devaluation as a result.
"If we've got to be forced to have this thing, then that would have been at least some legitimate compensation but not getting that is a significant kick in the teeth," said Mr Moore, a cattle farmer south of Tamworth.
Mr Moore has guesstimated he could have about ten transmission towers on the four kilometres of land where the lines will run through.
![The NSW government will be building hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines through private land to connect the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) to the electricity grid. Picture file The NSW government will be building hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines through private land to connect the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) to the electricity grid. Picture file](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/184392265/1cd55ba9-7c97-40be-9bb3-fb9d39e41978.JPG/r0_373_6000_3760_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
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Mr Moore said concern was also raised during the meeting that leaseholders on any parcel of land where the lines would be built would not be paid any of the approximate $200,000 over 20 years that the owners would get.
NSW Farmers' Nick Savage was at the meeting and said farmers would get compensated two ways: under the Just Terms Compensation Act, which sets the rules about what compensation can be given; and via the Strategic Benefit Payment scheme which is the sum of $200,000 over 20 years for each kilometre of transmission lines put on an owner's property.
Mr Savage said one of the main points farmers raised during the meeting was whether or not they could receive a share of the huge profits that wind and solar factories would generate once they're connected to the grid.
A spokesperson for EnergyCo said the company "will continue to work directly with landowners to reach an agreement wherever possible."
"It is critical that new REZ [Renewable Energy Zone] transmission infrastructure is delivered in a way that minimises the impacts on, and maximises the benefits for, the communities and landowners," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said in a statement that the Strategic Benefit Payment scheme "means that a landowner hosting one kilometre of transmission will receive an upfront payment under the existing compensation regime - plus $10,000 a year for 20 years which will increase in line with CPI over that time".
And of the Just Terms Compensation Act, the EnergyCo spokesperson said that "the regime has been in place for decades and provides compensation to landowners for the value of their land within the transmission easement plus some additional compensation for impacts on their land and amenity".
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