What is the Draft VTP?

The Draft Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP) is a government document that outlines where new electricity transmission lines will be built across Victoria. It shapes how and where major infrastructure like the Western Renewables Link (WRL) will go ahead.

Why this matters to residents of Western Victoria impacted by the WRL

The Draft VTP wrongly labels the Western Renewables Link as a “committed” project, even though it hasn’t been approved. This means the government is planning as if it’s already going ahead ignoring community concerns, alternative options, and proper environmental review.

If you live in a community affected by the WRL, this plan attempts to lock in a project that will destroy farmland, heighten risk in fire-prone areas, decimate the environment and cut across cultural heritage.

Why you must submit a response

Your voice matters. Submitting a response tells the government this plan is not acceptable. It challenges the false claims that the WRL is locked in, and it shows there is strong community opposition and credible alternatives.

Submissions close Tuesday 24 June at 11:59pm.

Speak up now—before it’s too late.

Need help with your submission?

We’re here to support you.
Email us at info@stoplaborstowers.org
Or come to the next community meeting Details Below.

Let’s make sure Western Victoria is heard.

COMMUNITY GUIDE FOR DRAFT VTP SUBMISSION

The “Guidelines and Key Issues Summarized for the Draft VTP Submissions – June 2025“ document is a practical, step-by-step guide to help residents of Western Victoria make a submission in response to the Draft Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP).

It explains how to prepare and upload a submission, outlines why it’s critical to respond, and provides clear instructions and deadlines. The guide also summarises the key issues with the current plan including the misclassification of the Western Renewables Link (WRL) as a “committed” project, the exclusion of alternatives, and the lack of proper consultation and environmental assessment. Residents are encouraged to use the guide to voice their concerns and demand a fairer, more transparent transmission planning process.

VTP BACKGROUND

The Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP) is not a blueprint for a secure, sustainable energy future. It is a thinly veiled justification for the Western Renewables Link (WRL), a broken project forced on regional communities with no proper analysis, no transparency, and no consent.

Despite AEMO classifying WRL as merely “anticipated,” the VTP treats it as inevitable. There is no modelling of alternatives, no cost-benefitanalysis, and no acknowledgement of the immense risks to farmland, bushfire zones, cultural heritage, and human health. The VTP blatantly ignores the VicGrid Act’s requirement to assess social licence, environmental impact, and community-supported alternatives.

This is not planning. It is political theatre designed to rubber-stamp outdated projects that serve the few at the expense of the many.

We have one narrow window to stop this. The VTP is open for public comment until 24 June. Every single submission matters.

Now is the time to:

• Expose the VTP’s failures its refusal to analyse alternatives, its blind support for the WRL, its erasure of regional voices.
• Demand a genuine review of the social, economic, and environmental risks of the WRL.
• Call for the inclusion of alternatives such as Plan B and Syncline a shovel-ready, underground HVDC alternative that follows existing corridors, protects farmland, avoids bushfire zones, and actually reflects international best practice.

This is our chance to force the government to listen. To stop a disastrous project before it begins. To replace destruction with smarter, safer solutions.

Make a submission. Demand better. Because the WRL will never be built here, not like this, not with our consent.

Let the VTP be the turning point. Not a plan for transmission, but a call to arms.

👉 Submit now: Submission Link
🕛 Closes 24 June 2025.

Read the Energy Grid Alliance response to the VTP

The Draft Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP) and a looming Environmental Effects Statement (EES) process are being used to force through the Western Renewables Link – without transparency, without alternatives, and without community consent.

The deadline to respond to the Draft VTP is late June. Our voices must be hear and we demand accountability. We want to ensure we get as many submissions is as possible.

Join us for a critical community meeting wherewe will unpack the Draft VTP, explain what’s at stake, and help you prepare a powerful submission.

Date: Monday, June 23
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Myrniong Hall, 6 Short Street, Myrniong
Tea and coffee provided

This isn’t just an update it’s a stand.

Show up, speak out, and help Stop Labor’s Towers. Our land, our communities,and our future depend on it.

EES: If the EES becomes a tool to rubber-stamp destruction, we will meet it with unrelenting legal and grassroots resistance.

VTP: Vic Grid’s campaign of coercionmust end – united, we will not be bought, broken, or bullied.

Media Statement

Shadow Minister and Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur has challenged VicGrid’s claim that only 0.06% of Victoria’s land will be impacted by renewable energy zones, calling it potentially a “rounding error or a deliberate attempt to mislead.” In a strong statement to the Minister for Energy, she demanded full transparency, questioning how such a small figure could account for all infrastructure, access tracks, and transmission lines. With public trust on the line, McArthur is urging urgent clarification from VicGrid and has written directly to its CEO seeking a detailed breakdown of the calculations.

The article provides critical context for growing opposition to the WRL, as it exposes both the economic flaws and transparency failings of VicGrid’s transmission strategy. While the State Government frames the WRL as a necessary investment to secure energy supply and meet net-zero targets, mounting evidence suggests that costs are being concealed and underestimated. The revelations come as the government pushes forward with its infrastructure agenda despite unresolved community concerns, legal uncertainties, and rising financial risks prompting urgent calls for accountability, more accurate modelling, and genuine consideration of lower-impact alternatives like the Syncline Community Cable.