Ballarat East residents have hit out at the decision to build a $30 million substation in their backyard.
The York Street location has been controversial, with Ballarat Council backing a petition in May that opposed the site due to health, safety and property devaluation concerns.
In breaking the news yesterday, Powercor also offered up a $2 million sweetener for local residents, including payments for the site’s neighbours and investment in local parks.
The company has also invited locals to co-design some of the substation’s features, including the fencing, plants and paint colours.
Jenny Paterson, who is leading the fight against the York Street plans, says its simply not the right spot.
“The main focus seems to be on beautification, but no amount of fencing disguises the fact that this is a totally inappropriate place for a substation, and I do believe Powercor knows that,” she said.
“Substations have high fences, they have barbed wire on the fence that surrounds them, they hum, they have lights on them that go all hours [and] this site is surrounded by 23 houses that’ll look straight at it.”
Powercor’s Head of Network Planning, Andrew Dinning, says they’ve been speaking to the community since March, who outlined a wide range of concerns, and they’ve taken them on board.
