Living and working near transmission lines

Our transmission lines are located on easements, which protect your safety by restricting the activities that can be carried out. Easements are also ‘rights of way’, giving our people and contractors access to build, operate and maintain infrastructure.

We engage closely with landowners to maintain assets and easements on their properties so that we can provide safe and reliable transmission services.

If you are planning development work on or near a transmission line easement you must follow the Transgrid Easement Guidelines, and obtain the necessary permissions, prior to starting work.

Download the Easement Guidelines

Our Easement Guidelines contain important information to help you understand the best way to work with us to optimise land use in tandem with our assets. They outline:

• How to determine whether your proposal is within an easement
• What can and cannot be done within our easements
• Whether your proposed activity or development is permitted, requires permission from Transgrid, or is prohibited
• How to seek permission prior to carrying out the activity or lodging your development application with a consent authority.

If you do not obtain the relevant permission, you may be required to remove or relocate your development at your expense. 

Please note that if you have received written permission from Transgrid under previous guidelines, this permission remains valid. 

State guidelines for working near overhead lines

If you are planning to undertake work near overhead lines, you must follow the relevant guidelines, regulations and codes of practice shown below:  

• The General Guide for Working in the Vicinity of Overhead and Underground Electric Lines is available on the Safe Work Australia website.
• Before going onsite, check the location of powerlines with the Look Up and Live app. Visit Transgrid/LookupandLive
• NSW: Information on working safely near overhead power lines is available on the Safe Work NSW website - Work near overheard power lines: the basics. The industry code of practice for Work near overhead power lines - Code of Practice (2006) is also available from this website.
• ACT: You also need to adhere to the requirements of the Utility Networks (Public Safety) Regulation 2001 (ACT).
• VIC: Guidance on No Go Zones and working around powerlines is located on the Energy Safe Victoria website.

1. If you determine there is a risk of coming within 4m of one of our 132kV lines, 6m of one of our 330kV lines or 8m of one of our 500kV lines you must contact us for advice at contruction.works@transgrid.com.au. 
2. If you require safety advice around proposed construction works, please complete this construction works form and submit it to construction.works@transgrid.com.au. We aim to respond within five working days.
3. If you are seeking permission to build on our easement, please head to our Easement Enquiries Portal.

Our maintenance teams carefully monitor trees growing near transmission line easements to ensure they do not pose a risk to public safety, or to maintaining our electricity supply.

As part of our monitoring program, we carry out aerial patrols using a remote sensing method called Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). This helps us to locate trees growing too close to the network that could create a safety or bush fire risk.  Trimming or removing these hazard trees is an essential part of our maintenance program and ensures we can continue to deliver a safe and reliable electricity supply.

Planting wisely

If you have an easement on your property, you can minimise the need to trim or remove trees by choosing a species that will maintain the required clearance from the easement. 

The best way to protect your local electricity supply and minimise the need for trimming is to avoid planting large trees near power lines.

Easements can vary in width depending on the operating voltage and design of the infrastructure. Before planting a tree, read our easement guidelines to determine the:

• required distance from an easement.
• maximum allowed height in relation to the easement.

Enquiries

If you have any questions about planting or maintaining trees near transmission lines, please phone us on 1800 222 537 or email community@transgrid.com.au.

Underground cable easements

Different requirements apply to work taking place near underground transmission cables.

Underground cables are not obvious, and you may not know there is one located on your property. A Dial Before You Dig (DBYD) search is essential prior to any excavation work taking place.

All proposals within cable easements require permission from Transgrid. For further guidance, visit Working near underground cables.