Arabic version: مُلّاك أراضٍ يطعنون في إعلان منطقة الطاقة المتجددة في نيو إنغلاند

According to ABC News, three landholders have lodged a judicial review application in the NSW Supreme Court seeking to overturn the declaration of the New England Renewable Energy Zone. Their case argues that the December 2021 declaration was invalid because the previous NSW government did not consider a mandatory report on the zone’s potential effect on electricity costs for NSW customers.

An affidavit filed by the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Mark Grady, states that the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act requires the NSW energy minister to consider a report from the secretary of the NSW Environment Department before declaring a renewable energy zone. The affidavit says another landholder sought information about the report through a Government Information Public Access request in February and was told on March 23 that it “was not created for the New England Renewable Energy Zone”.

The plaintiffs argue that, if the report was not made when the zone was declared, the minister could not have complied with the statutory requirement. The affidavit states their case is that the order is “void or voidable”. A spokesperson for the office of NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the renewable energy zones were legislated and declared by the previous government, adding that the office would not comment on legal proceedings.

The first plaintiff is GC Pastoral Pty Ltd, owned by Walcha grazier Anna Young. The landholders say a transmission line would cross all three properties if built, exposing them to compulsory acquisition of land, a reduction in the value of remaining land, visual impacts and economic loss from severance. Young said the action was self-funded and described the foundations of the New England REZ as unstable. The matter is due to be first heard in the NSW Supreme Court on September 21.