A protest against a major energy transmission proposed for Central Victoria turned ugly on Tuesday afternoon when nearly 100 farmers rallied with tractors against the controversial Western Renewables Link (WRL).
Farmers were waiting outside a meeting scheduled at the Dean Recreation Reserve, north of Ballarat, between proprietor of the project AusNet Services, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and local stakeholder groups.
The WRL would see 500-kilovolt high-voltage transmission lines installed through a secton of the farming community that could be as high as 85 metres if they were to be installed above the ground.
The lines would transport renewable energy from Bulgana, north of Ararat, to Melbourne, but farmers are strongly opposed to the plan.
Organisers of the meeting and most of the local groups who attended were unaware there would be dozens of farmers and nearly 40 tractors waiting for them at the conclusion of the discussions.
While protesters were speaking at the rally, AusNet Services chief executive Tony Narvaez and WRL Executive Project Sponsor Jeff Rigby attempted to quietly leave the protest, which angered many in the crowd.
'Running into the bushes'
One farmer said the three years of protest against the WRL was damaging the mental health of many farmers in the community.
"It's inhumane and they ran off like scoundrels through the bushes and couldn't come out and face us," he said.
Kingston canola and sheep farmer Ben Charleson said he was disappointed the spokespeople didn't stay to listen to the community's concerns.
"We don't seem to be getting any answers and we're sick of it," he said.
"This has been dragged out and God knows how long it will go for, but we'll continue to fight it."
He said it was important the community rallied together against the WRL, but didn't expect the AusNet representatives would address the crowd.
"It would be nice for someone to come out and have a conversation with the community but they haven't at all."
Scheduling conflict
Mr Rigby told ABC Statewide Drive the executives had to "excuse themselves" due to scheduling conflicts.
"I'd like apologise [on behalf of] AusNet. Today's session with both AusNet and AEMO was a series of meetings that were scheduled over the course of the day," he said.
"The early afternoon meeting had been set aside as an hour-long event. Unfortunately, with the time we had available to us and with the number of people that arrived we had to excuse ourselves from the meeting.
Mr Rigby said it would have "been better" to schedule more time in Dean to speak with farmers.
"For the scheduled meeting, we were relying on the [local stakeholders] that were coming along to represent the views of the community," he said.
"They have been very strong and very vocal supporters of the community at large."
'Poor consultation'
Protest organiser Will Elsworth from community group 'Piss Off AusNet' was in the meeting with industry spokespeople and said it was "like talking to bobbleheads".
"AusNet as a company have just destroyed their credibility with the community here," he said.
"AusNet aren't listening. We don't want to negotiate, gates are shut and all the olive branches have been broken."
AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman stayed on site to speak to the media after AusNet representatives left the Dean Recreation Reserve.
"I don't think the community has had adequate consultation, that's one of the reasons I'm here today," he said.
"The start of this process wasn't kicked off in the right way and it's really hard to come back from something that hasn't started out well.
"I'm here to try and rebuild some of those bridges, I'm not sure if we'll get there overall but that's our hope.
"These communities have legitimate concerns that frankly need to be dealt with."
