New electricity plan keeps bush covenant

A bushland preservation and regeneration covenant will not be changed at the proposed Empire Bay zone substation site near Poole Cl, under new plans announced by Energy Australia.

General manager of engineering Mr Geoff Lilliss said Energy Australia had revised the design of the zone substation after receiving community feedback.

He said the design revision meant that the environmental protection covenant could remain unchanged.

"We received good feedback from local residents after sending out 1000 project newsletters last month," Mr Lilliss said.

"We then took initial feedback and suggestions to our planners, who were able to redesign the layout so there was no need to alter the covenant.

"This design was then displayed at three community information sessions, where further feedback on the proposal was received.

"We are now preparing another 1000 newsletters to inform the community of the latest proposal for the substation site."

Mr Lilliss said Energy Australia applied to council in February to amend a covenant on the site to allow a driveway to be built at the eastern boundary that required the removal of 20 small trees.

He said Energy Australia had plans in place to replace the loss of trees on the site at a rate of five to one.

"Our original plans were guided by input from council and the site's neighbours, and they were designed to keep impacts on immediate neighbours to an absolute minimum," Mr Lilliss said.

"However, we have listened to the wider community's preference to keep the covenant in place."

Mr Lilliss said Energy Australia would still increase the trees on site with additional plantings at the northern, eastern and western boundaries, in line with an existing bushland management plan for the site.

Any trees not protected by the covenant requiring removal would be replaced at a rate of five to one, according to Mr Lilliss.

"We will also invite neighbours closest to the substation to work with us in a consultative group to help shape design aspects including landscaping, screening and the building exterior," Mr Lillis said.

"The community will continue to be consulted and informed at key stages of the project including planning of the proposed power line routes.

"The Poole Cl site is ideally located because it puts the new substation at the centre of an area where demand for power is increasing dramatically.

An Energy Australia spokesperson also stated that the covenant protected bushland areas on boundaries to the east (service station), north (Empire Bay Dr) and west (where Poole Cl and Empire Bay Dr converge).

"The covenant does not apply to the centre of the site, nor to a section of the boundary along Poole Cl," the spokesperson said.

"This leaves a defined building envelope on the site.

"We did not seek to have the entire covenant removed for the original design because it affected only one small section of trees.

"The revised footprint of the substation, however, will mean some visual impacts for our immediate neighbours off Poole Cl.

"We have invited these residents to work with us on design aspects such as landscaping, screening and the exterior of the building, in an effort to minimise impacts.

"Once designs have been finalised, we will complete an extensive environmental assessment as required under Part Five of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979."

Press release, 19 Apr 2010 Media statement, 22 Apr 2010 Allyn Hamonet, Energy Australia