The State Government has created a new renewable energy zone west of Shepparton without notifying those who live in the zone.
The draft Central North renewable zone covered a very large area between Bendigo and Shepparton, and aroused significant opposition from farmers and locals who stressed the importance of protecting the irrigation district and productive farmland within the draft zone.
In response, the Victorian government’s final transmission plan has reduced the size of the zone to the east of Shepparton, but at the same time created an entirely new renewable energy zone west of Shepparton, from Pine Lodge to Glenrowan.
The new western half of the Central North REZ was not part of the draft Central North zone, and farmers and locals within the area did not know their land was being considered for inclusion within the zone.
