The National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) has expressed outrage that the NSW Government plans to overturn the Plan of Management for Kosciuszko National Park.  A newly exhibited amendment to the Plan of Management exempts Snowy 2.0 from the legal requirement that new electricity transmission circuits must be placed underground rather than on environmentally damaging overhead towers¹.

NPA Executive Officer, Gary Dunnett today stated “Snowy Hydro and TransGrid claim to be responsible tenants in Kosciuszko National Park.  They know the Plan of Management requires that all new transmission circuits must go underground, but are instead pressuring the NSW Government to revoke the prohibition on more overhead towers in Kosciuszko. The result will be a cleared slash through the National Park 8 Kilometers long and up to 200 metres wide, with two sets of towers up to 70 metres high. The amendment is yet another example of environmental laws being bypassed for Snowy 2.0”².   

“This is the first time that the requirement to put any new transmission in Kosciuszko National Park underground has been put to the test, and shockingly, the Government’s response has been to strip away those protections”. 

NPA is calling on the NSW Environment and Energy Minister, Matt Kean, to step in and protect Kosciuszko National Park from unnecessary damage.  “The current Plan of Management got it right, all new transmission circuits in the Park must go underground” concluded Mr Dunnett.

1.Extract from exhibited Amendment to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management:

 Section 12.6 Electricity Transmission Authorities and Telecommunication Carriers, Policies and Actions, number 6 (page 219)

Require all additional telecommunication and transmission lines to be located underground.

 Has been replaced with:

Require all additional telecommunication and transmission lines to be located underground, except those constructed as part of the Snowy 2.0 project.

2.The Government has agreed to provide  special exemptions from the NSW Biosecurity Act and Fisheries Management Act to allow Snowy 2.0 to transfer pest fish and pathogens between Talbingo and Tantangara Reservoirs, which will result in the infestation of the entire Snowy Mountains waterways and downstream rivers with Redfin Perch and other noxious pests.