The Mayor of Ballarat has described last Monday’s meeting with Powercor to discuss alternate substation sites as ‘disingenuous’.
Despite strong community opposition, the estimated $52 million station is set to be built amongst homes in York Street, Ballarat East.
The morning after the meeting, Powercor released a media statement saying two proposed sites at Mitchell Park and the Ballarat Saleyards would be too costly, due to several extra kilometres of powerlines and extra infrastructure.
Councillor Des Hudson says it appears they had a media release ready to go, despite a community meeting.
“I understand the numbers and everything else, but to go through the process and bring people out when you’ve got a media release in your back pocket ready to go, I think it’s a bit disingenuous.”
A spokesperson from Powercor said the reason the utility looked at those two sites was because those were the sites council put forward.
