By REBECCA BILLS
PREMIER Dennis Napthine inspected the progress of replacing bare wire powerlines in Montrose last Monday to reduce bushfire risk in the Dandenong Ranges.
A total of 23 kilometres of high voltage powerlines is being replaced as a result of the Victorian Coalition Government’s $750 million Powerline Bushfire Safety Program.
The Premier alongside Minister for Energy and Resources Russell Northe, Liberal Eastern Victoria Region MP Andrew Ronalds and Monbulk candidate Mark Verschuur met with workers to discuss the progress in reducing bushfire risk.
Dr Napthine said he was impressed by the works making the Dandenong Ranges safer and commended SP AusNet for their diligent work.
“We are getting on with the job protecting Victorians from bushfires with stage one of the works in the Dandenong Ranges now reaching completion,” he said.
“By placing lines underground or using insulated cable we can reduce the risk of bushfires.”
Dr Napthine said this current stage was one of the largest components of the project that involved replacing bare wire high voltage lines with underground cabling and required directional boring at a depth of one metre or greater under roads and other infrastructure.
He said with the undergrounding of these lines now complete, aerial bundling of a further 9.35 kilometres of powerlines could now take place with work scheduled to finish halfway through the year.
Mr Vershuur said as a local living in the area with his family he welcomed the major powerline works.
“Cutting the bushfire risk in and around the Dandenong Ranges area is a priority for our community,” he said.
SP AusNet External Relations Manager Jonathon Geddes said the company was pleased to be working with the government to deliver the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program which complements their ongoing programs to mitigate bushfire risk.
SP AusNet manages a $7 billion electricity and gas network that services more than 1.2 million customers in south-east Australia.
Mr Northe said the aerial bundling would be the first to take place in Victoria under the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program.
He said the program was one of the most significant programs in protecting Victorian lives, infrastructure, environment and industry from the catastrophic effects of bushfires.
“The works taking place here will make all the difference in protecting those at-risk communities south and south-west of Mount Dandenong from bushfires on those ominous days when the temperatures are high, the winds are strong and the environment is dry,” he said.
Aerial bundled cables are overhead powerline using insulated phase conductors bundled tightly together.
“This means when the lines come into contact with other objects, such as vegetation, wildlife and other power lines or on occasions where they fall to the ground, the high-voltage bare wire line within the insulations is protected and resultant arcing or sparking does not occur,” Mr Northe said.
