PROPERTIES east and north of the Swan Hill to Bendigo railway line will be connected to Kerang’s natural gas network following overwhelming support from residents.
Project developers are continuing to install the town’s reticulation network, with efforts focusing on the area bordered by Alexandra Park, Kerang’s eastern and northern residential limits and the railway line.
These sections were left out of Brookfield Infrastructure’s initial network map, but have been included after landowners completed expressions of interest to receive natural gas.
A gas line that ends at the corner of Wattle Avenue and Loddon Crescent will extend east, under the railway line, to Lilac Avenue to accommodate the network’s growth.
“We have about three weeks’ worth of work left on the reticulation network and that work is an extension of the previously agreed network based on expressions of interest,” project director, Todd Henderson said.
As outlined by the updated network map, properties west of the Murray Valley Highway and east of the Kerang saleyards will not be connected to the network as they fall outside the reticulation boundary.
A number of streets that fall within the reticulation boundary – including Maxwell Street, Richardson Street and the southern section of Marne Street – may also miss out on being connected.
However, Mr Henderson is confident the southern section of Marne Street – which consists of a number of newly constructed houses and vacant residential blocks – will be added as the project nears completion.
“It is highly likely we will end up undertaking these streets as an extension. We have noted that we are likely to achieve take up in these streets,” he said.
“These streets will be undertaken before we finalise and de-mobilise the current crews.”
Meanwhile, works to replace key pieces of station equipment at the Tate Drive storage site – which will house the natural gas once it is delivered from a processing site – have been further delayed.
A full replacement of station equipment will need to occur, with installation unable to occur until May.
It is predicted these works will be completed by June, with crews to begin connecting properties to the network afterwards.
“We apologise for this further delay, however, every effort has been made to minimise this and we are committed to keeping residents well informed of developments,” Mr Henderson said.
