VicGrid submission
9th October 2025
To whom it may concern,
RE: 2025 Victorian Transmission plan – proposed Central North renewable energy zone
As a community we write to express our utmost concern regarding the recently released 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan.
Most concerning is the fact that this is not a draft document but has been presented to us as a plan that has reached a conclusion to include the proposed Central North renewable energy zone built on analyses of the natural resources and associated production value.
It is our belief to reach a final plan without reviewing the social, economic and cultural values of our region, or to inform and consult with our community is not following due process.
We therefore request that the plan and associated process of determining the renewable energy zones be pushed back to draft plan stage and that due process be followed, as was the case when other communities to our west were provided the opportunity to raise their concerns resulting in the renewable energy zone being removed from key areas of concern.
Without consultation with our community, or by conducting an appropriate level of investigation, how has the Government been able to reach an informed conclusion on the proposed central north zone?
This is a question that we raised directly with Vic Grid representatives at a meeting initiated by the local community. When we asked why Dookie, it was clear that no consideration had been given to social, economic or cultural values within our region. The driving factor appeared to be the existence of the transmission lines through the area and the installation of the Pine Lodge battery.
In relation to the battery, we note that and at no stage were residents in the surrounding district consulted with regard to what the development of this infrastructure would mean to our community.
As such we request that we be given additional time to engage more widely with our community and to provide an appropriate level of feedback. A six-week engagement period is simply not long enough, and does not provide for an adequate response time. We request that Vic Grid follow the same community engagement protocols that were used in the Corop/ Kyabram area, where engagement had actively occurred for an extended period of time.
Many of our residents have not been informed as the information (via a flyer) that was distributed in some areas had not reached all residents, including many most effected by the proposal. In particular, it is noted that Dookie has 17 owners in the Greater Shepparton City Council area on the eastern side of Mount Major, 21 on the western side, and 16 in the Benalla Shire area that are all within 1 kilometre of the transmission lines. These landholders should have been consulted before any plan was put together, and going forward should be part of a focused engagement group for Vic Grid.
If appropriate research had been undertaken rather than a broad State scale scan of statistics, and community consultation had occurred, it would be evident to VicGrid that the area to the east of Shepparton, including Mount Major has values that are not compatible with a renewable energy zone. We believe there has been no consideration or inclusion in the report of the local geology/ soil types and associated productivity of the region, or the cultural and natural values of our region, including the associated tourism that is so important to the broader region as evidenced below:
The area to the east of Shepparton, including Mount Major is situated on Shepparton Formation alluvial soils and ancient basalt derived soils formed from weathering of Cambrian aged meta basalts.
The SA2 data for grain production supports the productivity of the regions soils indicating that for Shepparton East and surrounds the productivity of dryland cropping is 67% above the State average.
Canola yields in Dookie and district region are extremely high yielding and is a direct supply area to the Numurkah GrainCorp plant. The Government have committed to a 1.1 Billion dollar Biofuels mandate over the next 10 years. Where does this product come from? - Bi products of Canola, produced at facilities like the GrainCorp Numurkah crushing plant. The grain production areas east of Shepparton one of the biggest regional contributors to the State and the primary supply area for the Numurkah plant. A supply that is in jeopardy with the proposed renewable energy zone. High yielding crop production has no compatibility with solar panels.
It is also noted that the food bowl of the Goulburn Valley is built on the productivity of our regional soils and on the proximity to irrigation infrastructure. it is noted that the Pine Lodge battery and the western end of the central North Central Zone situated on prime cropping ground less than 2 kilometres to the main Eastern Channel. The potential expansion of irrigated agriculture for more intensive food crops from this main eastern channel to provide greater food security has not even been considered. This type of expansion is already being considered west of the main eastern channel near the Broken River to supply irrigated properties in this region who previously received water from Lake Mokoan.
VicGrid have not considered other industries that are active in our region including horticultural enterprises and viticulture, which currently thrive on the rich productive soils irrigated from ground water licensed bores.
The University of Melbourne Dookie Agricultural College has operated in our region since the 19th Century and was established here due to the productivity of the region. This is Government land reserved for Agriculture, education and research - to support and improve agricultural production across Victoria. Solar Panel farms in our region are not compatible with the fundamental values on which the College was established and why our region was selected in the first place for this long standing agricultural research hub.
No consideration has been given to the incompatibility of the renewable energy zone with our regional tourism and social and cultural values of the area. Dookie and Mount Major has long been a regional tourism draw card due to the great views from the summit in an otherwise flat landscape. This Reserve has been utilised by the community and visitors for many years for
outdoor recreation and appreciation of our natural landscape. Visitors come to view the agricultural vistas with a patchwork of changing colour during the seasons.
The popularity of the Mount for walking and the cultural importance of the Dookie hills due to the greenstone and chert outcrops and remnant vegetation found in association with the geology has led to the development of two walking trails that include interpretive signage along the trail talking about the environmental and cultural values of the region.
The walking trails have been jointly funded and/ or supported by Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation, Federal Government National Landcare Program, Greater Shepparton City Council, and the University of Melbourne.
The area is used extensively for tourism and events due to the natural beauty of the farming and environmental landscapes, values that are not compatible with solar panels. The area is promoted on many State and Regional tourism platforms as a destination built on the beauty of our region.
Brolgas are utilising wetlands across the plains with numerous creeks and wetlands present across the landscape, whilst Mount Major and other reserves provide important vestiges for flora and fauna. The streams and natural floodways that flow through the area have high potential for winter flooding due to the decommissioning of the stock and domestic channels that previously assisted in diverting water of flood land. Natural floodways and movement of water flow across the plains has not been considered for our region.
Greenstone outcrops that occur across the Dookie landscape and other cultural features have not been considered as they do not show as mapped areas of Aboriginal Heritage Sensitivity on the First Peoples State Relations spatial mapping (ACHRIS). This is due to the fact that the mapping for this layer is based on State Geological 1: 250,000 mapping that does not highlight the features in our region. These cultural sensitive features include prior streams and greenstone outcrops, that are therefore not included in the mapped area of Aboriginal cultural heritage sensitivity.
There are multiple recorded Aboriginal cultural heritage places, including quarries, in our region that support the actual Aboriginal cultural sensitivity of this region, and highlight the fact that many other unidentified sites will also occur across this landscape due to a lack of formal survey. Unlike irrigated regions, where ground surfaces have been highly modified by lasering for irrigation cultural sites can still be found across the plains and within the hill landscapes.
Vic Grid have indicated that the Corop area was removed due to cultural and natural values, yet it is evident that the Dookie region has the same, or potentially even greater cultural, natural and economic values yet these have not been considered or included in the decision making process of the proposed zone.
We as a community remain deeply disappointed by the lack of consultation and the apparent disregard for the key social, cultural and economic values of our region as outlined in this letter.
It is our collective belief that this plan needs to be reversed and the process revisited, including an appropriate level of consultation to potentially effected stakeholders.
We look forward to your response.
Yours Sincerely,
Members of the Dookie & District Development Forum (DDDF)
Key contacts:
Leigh Kildey – Chairperson DDDF/ Gaye Sutherland -Vice Chairperson DDDF
