Catriona Rowntree has slammed “secret” plans to build a renewable battery farm next to her rural home in Victoria.
The Getaway star, 53, has called on Geelong City Council to back her call to block the construction of the large-scale project next to her home, which she says poses a safety risk.
AC Energy’s proposals to build a 350MW/700MWh lithium battery farm at Little River, 44km southwest of Melbourne, are currently before the State Government.
If the project goes ahead, it would become one of the largest battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the state, designed to manage electrical power using lithium-ion batteries.
But Catriona has now criticised the plans, saying she was “taken by surprise” by the proposals and only found out about them through a report in her local newspaper.
She took to Instagram to share an impassioned video opposing the development, which she says poses a safety risk because the area of land is in a fire corridor.
The TV presenter also noted that the remote location is protected by a significant landscaping overlay, which aims to preserve and enhance important areas.
“Hi, just wanted to let you know that just after 5pm, if you tune into ABC Stateside in Victoria, you are about to hear what many of us in the state of Victoria are watching,” he shared.
Catriona Rowntree has come under fire for “secret” plans to build a renewable battery farm next to her rural home in Victoria
‘This is an attempt to make us go green, we are losing our green!’
Later, in an appearance on the ABC, Catriona went on to accuse the State Government of trying to “sneak” the proposals through, claiming Geelong City Council was not aware of them.
“We are in a high-risk fire zone and the government has put a significant amount of landscaping on this very farm,” he said.
‘This is exactly the same farm where the historic fires of 1969 occurred. There are fires in this area all the time. Yesterday there were 100-kilometre-long winds that swept through this area.
“The state government is trying to smuggle this in and the council doesn’t know about it,” he added.
In 1969, a fatal wildfire swept through Little River and many other areas outside You Yangs Regional Park, destroying property and killing many locals.
Catriona has suggested that another area would be more suitable to house the battery farm due to the risk of strong winds in the agricultural area.
He has requested that the consultation period be extended as the deadline is approaching in a matter of days, on 7 September, and a decision is expected by the end of the year.
The Getaway star, 53, has called on the council to back her request to block the large-scale project being erected next to her home (pictured), which she says has “caught her by surprise”.
Catriona said the development poses a security risk because the land is in a fire corridor and at the same time is protected by a significant landscape layer to preserve important areas.
Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan agreed the local community had been left completely “baffled” by the proposals and vowed to raise them with the state.
“The community has been caught off guard,” Sullivan said at a recent meeting, according to the Geelong Advertiser.
‘Whether it’s a battery or a waste incinerator to generate energy, things that the state government has tried to, I dare say, smuggle in, the community needs to be informed about that. We will follow up on that issue.’
Catriona moved from Sydney to Victoria to be with her farmer husband James and has since restored their former family home, a six-bedroom Victorian farmhouse, to its former glory.
The sheep and grain estate where Catriona, James and their children live has been used over the years for films such as Ned Kelly and The Dressmaker.
If plans for the extensive property go ahead and become operational, the BESS would connect directly to the existing 220 kV grid infrastructure.
According to ACEnergy, this would allow Victoria to become more sustainable by “balancing supply and demand, integrating more renewable energy into the grid and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.”
Unlike many other forms of energy storage, a BESS provides much more flexibility as it releases energy on demand.
The unit could also help manage the impacts of power fluctuations and outages, while existing transmission lines would be used to minimize construction impacts.
Land for the Little River BESS was secured in 2023, and the application is currently being assessed by the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning.
If approved, ACEnergy expects construction to begin in the second quarter of 2025, with the BESS coming online in late 2026.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Victorian Government and ACEnergy for comment.
Catriona moved from Sydney to Victoria to be with her farmer husband James and has since restored their former family home, a six-bedroom Victorian sheep farm, to its former glory.
The new proposal comes as the state government approved the first renewable energy project under the Allan Labor government’s new streamlined process.
Earlier this year, renewable energy projects became eligible to go through the development facilitation programme to ensure that major proposals can get off the ground more quickly.
And on Thursday, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approved the first project under the new system, which is expected to be fully processed in just nine weeks.
Amid a major push for renewable energy, a $250 million BESS has been approved for Joel Joel in the Northern Grampians, which is 23km east of Stawell in Victoria’s Wimmera region.
According to a press release, “Projects like this are playing a key role in achieving Victoria’s energy storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3 gigawatts by 2035.”
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