Plants growing too closely to powerlines impose a safety risk, potentially causing power outages and fires.
Powercor head of vegetation management Ayce Cordy said the easiest solution was to avoid planting trees under powerlines altogether.
“We work year-round managing trees and plants growing near powerlines to keep the network safe,” he said.
“It’s not just trees planted directly under powerlines either, in some cases we need to have four metres between powerlines and trees, and consider species being planted to the side of powerlines, too.”
Powercor conducts the largest vegetation inspection program in Victoria, with three helicopters equipped with light detection and ranging technology to scan the entire network annually.
The company assesses more than 13.5 million trees each year, with over 350 cutting staff working to maintain clearances across more than 50,000 spans.
“Unfortunately, we still see cases where people are choosing to plant under our lines, and we will need to cut these back in the future to meet our strict clearance requirements,” Mr Cordy said.
“While we will always encourage people not to plant under powerlines, if trees must be planted there, we recommend choosing low canopy species that will reach a mature maximum height of 3.5m.
“Talk to your local nursery and they can let you know what species will do well in your area and how big they’ll grow.”
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