Eastlink Route

The Hon. J. J. DELLA BOSCA: I seek leave to incorporate in Hansard a response to the Hon. R. S. L. Jones’ question in respect of the Eastlink road planning matter, which I was denied leave to incorporate yesterday.

Leave granted.

The former Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, the Hon. Craig Knowles MP, approved a proposal by TransGrid for the Queensland-New South Wales Interconnection Transmission Line, known as QNI, in November 1998. QNI essentially follows the same alignment as the Eastlink proposal. The Minister’s decision to approve the proposal was made after consideration of an independent assessment of the project by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning. Key issues that were considered in the department’s assessment included impacts on flora and fauna including a number of threatened species, indigenous heritage impacts and visual impacts. The

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Minister’s decision was subject to 69 stringent conditions of approval.

The Minister gave TransGrid approval for construction of QNI within a corridor which was defined in the environmental impact statement. The final alignment of the transmission line within the corridor is currently being determined by TransGrid in accordance with a range of protocols. These have been developed to ensure that sites of indigenous heritage significance and areas of flora and fauna conservation significance are avoided where possible, and appropriate mitigation measures are implemented. TransGrid is also required to undertake ongoing consultation with landowners and other stakeholders in finalising the route alignment to determine if any minor changes to the alignment are necessary to minimise the impacts of the route.

Under Section 115BA of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, TransGrid can request modification of the Minister’s approval. A modification would be required if TransGrid proposed to move the alignment outside the approved corridor. If a modification is required, my approval would be needed. Other than the above, I have no statutory role to negotiate deviations to the alignment with property owners. My future role in this project involves ensuring TransGrid complies with the conditions of approval, including finalisation of the route alignment to avoid areas of significance and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures.