Line trim cost prune

By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN
YARRA Ranges Council wants to hand over the responsibility of pruning powerlines, with the costs set to skyrocket 100 per cent.
It is also pushing for the use of aerial bundled cabling in the Dandenongs.
The council has been asked to respond to an Energy Safe Victoria review of legislation that covers bushfire risks arising from powerlines.
The council report says if large parts of the shire are reclassified to hazardous bushfire risk areas, along with stricter pruning requirements, it should not be required to bear the liability or the costs of clearing powerlines.
It questions whether spending money on protecting a non-council asset is the best outcome, and suggests if clearing responsibilities are not reallocated to the electricity distribution businesses than the council should hand the responsibility back to the State Government.
SP AusNet currently looks after non-declared areas in the shire, and the council believes it should be looking after the council-declared areas including parts of Healesville, Upwey, Tecoma, Belgrave and Belgrave Heights.
Line clearance in the shire cost $393,000 in the 2011-‘12 financial year and is expected to rise after pruning requirements became stricter under state law.
Local government across the state became responsible for clearing around powerlines on public land following the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires.
At the Tuesday 26 June meeting, the councillors all agreed to write to Energy Safe Victoria stating their position that it should be the State Government and energy companies’ responsibility to pay for and maintain powerlines.
The council report states that although records are not publicly available, SP AusNet has been installing a lot of AB cabling in the Dandenongs, presumably using funding made available by the State Government following the 2009 bushfires.
Councillor Samantha Dunn said AB cabling should be advocated for, particularly in the Dandenongs, but also across the shire.
“The other important thing is that the pruning envelope is far smaller with the bundling, so you won’t see the butchering that goes on under powerlines at the moment,” she said.
A spokesperson from SP AusNet said the company was reviewing Energy Safe Victoria’s (ESV) discussion paper and would respond in due course.
He also said as part of new regulations, the AB cabling that had been installed by SP AusNet would reduce power outages and fires, and had already helped reduce the time that customers spent without electricity by 12.8 per cent
“Vegetation management, carried out by councils and electricity distribution businesses, is still required for powerlines with insulated aerial bundled cable,” he said.