Council & Politics
1 October, 2025
Pushing for positive outcomes
NORTHERN Grampians Shire Council has been hard at work behind-the-scenes to advocate for the best possible outcomes in the region as the State Government’s Victorian Transmission Plan gathers steam.
Council voted back in June to formally oppose the VNI West transmission line project, which has been a lightning rod for controversy along with the establishment of the Western Renewable Energy Zone which impacts Northern Grampians Shire.
Since Council’s decision in June, VicGrid, the Victorian government body responsible for planning and developing the state's renewable energy zones and the transmission infrastructure, forged ahead and announced the Victorian Transmission Plan mid-August, and while other Victorian councils were quick to speak out against the plan, Northern Grampians Shire Council has kept its cards close to its chest.
Deputy Mayor Justine Hide said this week that while quiet on the publicity front, Council has been working hard on behalf of the community when it comes to renewable energy matters.
Despite her own objection to the motion to oppose VNI West at June’s Council meeting, Cr Hide said since the motion carried, Council has presented a united front, fighting for the best outcomes for Northern Grampians Shire residents.
“Myself and councillor Greenberger did have a different stand or opinion, well vote at the end of the day, than the other three councillors who moved that motion,” said Cr Hide.
“The motion was though, to object the REZ in its current form which was something that Cr Greenberger and myself were very happy that they were able to add that extra wording in, because at the end of the day, that REZ zone still isn’t 100 per cent finalised.
“Anything could still change, although to be realistic it’s probably not going to change but it could.”
The Deputy Mayor was clear that her job is to follow through on Council’s objectives.
“As far as my position goes, I will still 100 per cent support the overall Council’s decision as a collective council group, as it was a majority 3-2, so that’s where my position does stand,” she said.
“At this stage though, nothing in that particular motion, that area, has changed from either Council’s public point-of-view, or our position however, what the community probably haven’t seen in the last few weeks or even month or so, is that we are still working extremely hard behind the scenes, and relentlessly in this field and this area, Northern Grampians Shire staff and councillors themselves.”
Cr Hide confirmed all Northern Grampians Shire councillors, minus Mayor Karen Hyslop who is not part of the renewable energy conversations due to a conflict of interest, along with Chief Executive Officer Brent McAlister, and Director of Strategy, Prosperity and Engagement Justine Kingan, recently met face-to-face with Minister for Climate Action of Victoria, Lily D'Ambrosio.
“We requested this meeting back at the start of the year, and we were able to get a spot to see her at the start of September,” said Cr Hide.
“We travelled down to Melbourne for the day, and we raised three very particular issues on the agenda with her, we only had 30 minutes so we had to really focus on what we could do.”
One of the issues raised with the Minister was about protecting native vegetation in the region.
“In regard to the REZ zone in the Northern Grampians Shire, there is a section just below St Arnaud that has significant native vegetation areas, and we argued that we wanted to make sure that area is highlighted and excluded, and to reconsider the boundaries around that area,” she said.
Cr Hide said councillors also pushed for financial support to cover the time and resources Northern Grampians Shire Council has committed to dealing with the impact of the Victorian Transmission Plan.
“The cost of the council staff’s time in preparing and researching submissions for answering all the required documentation for VicGrid and every other developer, the constant work that needs to go in it, from the staffing level, it is taking up so much of their resources, that’s being taken away from other areas that need focus and priority as well,” Cr Hide said.
“We requested funding in order to be able to provide staffing support basically, to just provide the work that they’re asking us to do.”
Another important talking point of the meeting was the wellbeing of residents impacted by VicGrid’s plans.
“The third area that we spent most of the time discussing and emphasising, was that we want mental health support for our Shire and we want it immediately, and we provided suggestions and avenues on how to action that,” said Cr Hide.
“Those conversations are continuing still at this moment, on how we can try to have that happen for the landowners, and anyone who’s affected.
“We want that support in our Shire ASAP, that was the main thing we were really focussing on while we were there.”
Read More: Stawell