Find out what's happening

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Resources and latest updates on the Western Renewables Link (WRL) Inquiry and Advisory Committee (IAC) Hearing are published here to assist the Moorabool Shire community.

Hearing audio recordings

Council is providing timestamps for the daily Hearing audio recordings to help participants and observers navigate straight to the speakers they are interested in. They can be found by week in the drop-down options below.

Full audio recordings can be accessed via the Engage Victoria website and will be removed when the WRL Inquiry and Advisory Committee (IAC) has submitted its report to the Minister for Planning. Directions 50-51 of the IAC provide for the use of the recordings can be found on the Engage Victoria website.

Disclaimer:
Timestamps and references contained in this webpage have been prepared to assist with navigation of the lengthy Hearing audio recordings. They are provided for convenience only and may not precisely align with the actual timing or sequence of statements in the recording. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, Council does not guarantee that all timestamps are complete or free from error. The official record of Hearing events remains the original audio file.

 

Week 1

Day 1 Monday 27 October 2025 WRL EES Hearing Timestamp.docx(DOCX, 25KB)

Tuesday 28 October 2025 - site visits, no hearing

Wednesday 29 October 2025 - site visits, no hearing

Day 2 Thursday 30 October 2025 WRL EES Hearing Timestamp.docx(DOCX, 25KB)

Day 3 Friday 31 October 2025 WRL EES Hearing Timestamp.docx(DOCX, 24KB)

Week 2

  • Day 5 - Wednesday 5 November(DOCX, 26KB) – Proponent expert evidence: Noise and Vibration; Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF)

 

Week 3

  • Thursday 13 November –Hearing did not sit

  • Friday 14 November – Hearing did not sit.

 

Week 4

  • Monday 17 November - Hearing did not sit

Week 5

  • Day 16 - Monday 24 November 2025 - Reserve Day - Hearing did not sit

 

Week 6

  • Day 21 -Tuesday 2 December(DOCX, 28KB) - Moorabool Shire Council’s closing submission and presentation of Moorabool Shire Council’s proposed Environmental Performance Requirement (EPRs) amendments 
  • Day 23 - Thursday 4 December(DOCX, 29KB) - included both Melton City Council and Hepburn Shire Council’s Expert Evidence on Costing and Engineering from the same witness and followed by Melton City Council’s Expert Evidence on Aviation
  • Friday 5 December - Hearing did not sit.

 

 

Week 7

Day 24 - Monday 8 December 2025(DOCX, 29KB)  - Melton City Council’s Expert Evidence on Social impacts and Closing Submission.

Day 25 - Tuesday 9 December 2025(DOCX, 31KB)  - Hepburn Shire Council’s Opening Comments and Expert Evidence on Landscape and Visual and Expert Evidence on Tourism. 

Day 26 - Wednesday 10 December 2025(DOCX, 36KB)  - Hepburn Shire Council and City of Ballarat’s joint Expert Evidence on Agriculture and Hepburn Shire Council’s Closing Submission. 

Day 27 - Thursday 11 December 2025(DOCX, 31KB)  - Melton City Council and Hepburn Shire Council’s Expert Evidence on Costing and Engineering and Melton City Council’s Expert Evidence on Aviation. 

Friday 12 December 2025 - Hearing did not sit.

Week 8

Day 28 - Monday 15 December 2025(DOCX, 32KB) - included submissions from parties Charleson, Ford, Henderson Drife, May and Bouchier. Expert evidence on economic impacts was also provided by Mr Andrew Perkins of Hall Chadwick.

Day 29 - Tuesday 16 December 2025(DOCX, 33KB) - included Melton Air Services Investments Pty Ltd expert evidence on Aviation Safety and Risk Assessment by Mr Julian Fraiser of the Australian Helicopter Industry Association, followed by expert evidence on Aviation Safety and Aerodrome Operations by Daniel O'Donnell of Sequoia Aviation Pty Ltd.

Day 30 - Wednesday 17 December 2025 - Hearing did not sit. 

Day 31 - Thursday 18 December 2025(DOCX, 36KB) - was the final hearing day for 2025. It included submissions from the last of six local governments affected by the project, as well as several Victorian Government agencies. Submissions provided by DEECA and Northern Grampians Shire Council.

Week 9

Day 32 - Tuesday 20 January 2026(DOCX, 30KB) - was the recommencement of Planning Panels Victoria’s Hearing for the proposed Western Renewables Link after the summer break. The 2026 portion of the Hearing primarily consists of submissions from community members over the course of five weeks, before closing submissions in the final week. The Hearing today included community submitters.

Day 33 - Wednesday 21 January 2026(DOCX, 29KB) - included submissions from Kingston and District Power Alliance Inc. (KDPA), submission number 496, represented by Mr John Rowlands and other group members covering the following topics: Planning, Landscape, Visual impact, Undergrounding, Biodiversity, Bushfire and fire, Heritage, Bullarook Streamside Reserve and the Buried Rivers of Gold.

Day 34 - Thursday 22 January 2026(DOCX, 28KB)  - included the second of two days’ submissions from Kingston and District Power Alliance Inc. (KDPA), submission number 496, represented by Mr John Rowlands and other group members covering the following topics:  Agriculture, Social impact, Tourism, Land Use and Closing submissions.  

Day 35 - Friday 23 January 2026(DOCX, 29KB) - included submissions from Western Victorian Community Alliance (WVCA), submission number 315, represented by Mr Jim Phasey, Ms Emma Muir and Mr Steve Harper.

 

Week 10

Day 36 - Tuesday 27 January 2026(DOCX, 35KB)  - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted concurrently across two Hearing rooms at the Planning Panels Victoria offices in Melbourne.

Day 37 - Wednesday 28 January 2026(DOCX, 26KB)  - included the submission from Mr Steve Harper, submission number 162, covering a range of topics including Social, Bushfire, Undergrounding and Landscape and Visual.

Day 38 - Thursday 29 January 2026 - This will be provided once the recording is available. 

Week 11

Day 39 - Monday 2 February 2026(DOCX, 33KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 40 - Tuesday 3 February 2026(DOCX, 30KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 41- Wednesday 4 February 2026(DOCX, 27KB)  - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat). The afternoon of Day 41 was a confidential session, which was closed to the public and not recorded.

Day 42 - Thursday 5 February 2026 -  was a confidential session, which was closed to the public and not recorded.

Friday 6 February 2026 - IAC Site visits.

 

 

Week 12

Day 43 - Monday 9 February 2026(DOCX, 31KB) -included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

 

Day 44 - Tuesday 10 February 202(DOCX, 38KB)6 - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 45 - Wednesday 11 February 2026(DOCX, 36KB)  - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 46 - Thursday 12 February 2026(DOCX, 36KB)  - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Friday 13 February 2026 - IAC Site visits. 

 

 

Week 13

Day 47 – Monday 16 February 2026(DOCX, 31KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 48 – Tuesday 17 February 2026(DOCX, 30KB) – included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 49 – Wednesday 18 February 2026(DOCX, 32KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 50 – Thursday 19 February 2026(DOCX, 31KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 51 – Friday 20 February 2026(DOCX, 30KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

 

Week 14

Day 52 – Monday 23 February 2026(DOCX, 31KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 53 – Tuesday 24 February 2026(DOCX, 31KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 54 – Wednesday 25 February 2026(DOCX, 33KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 55 – Thursday 26 February 2026 – included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted concurrently in Hearing Room 1(DOCX, 33KB) and Hearing Room2(DOCX, 31KB) at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

Day 56 – Friday 27 February 2026(DOCX, 30KB) - included submissions from community groups and individuals, conducted at Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Conference Centre, Eureka Ballroom (613 Main Road, Ballarat).

 

Week 15

Day 57 - Monday 2 March 2026(DOCX, 31KB) of the Western Renewables Link Hearing included closing submissions from impacted Councils, including Moorabool Shire, Melton City and Hepburn Shire and was conducted at Planning Panels Victoria (1 Spring Street, Melbourne). 

Day 58 - Tuesday 3 March 2026(DOCX, 30KB)  was the final day of the Western Renewables Link Hearing and comprised closing submissions from AusNet Transmission Group Pty Ltd (AusNet Services; Proponent), represented by Mr Tweedie, Ms Foley, Ms Guild and Mr McArdle of Counsel and instructed by White and Case. The Hearing concluded with closing remarks and next steps in the EES process from the WRL Inquiry and Advisory Committee (IAC) and was conducted at Planning Panels Victoria (1 Spring Street, Melbourne). 

 

 

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