Nearby resident Greg Clarke last week criticised Origin Energy and TRU Energy for self-regulating their gas plant noise levels at Port Campbell, but also called on the EPA and Corangamite Shire Council to hold the companies accountable.

Melrose Road dairy farmer Kevin Tesselaar has also voiced his concerns to councillors, claiming noise from the plants “spooked” his cows, which are sometimes as close as 800 metres to the plant.

“If they know they’re going to be venting gas at 2pm on Friday, I’d like a phone call so I can at least move the cows to a further paddock,” Mr Tesselaar said yesterday.

“They’ve only gone through the fence once but they’ve definitely been spooked.

“The bloody gas plant doesn’t come and fix the fence for me.

“We hear the gas plant and we hear the trucks.

“I have spoken to the gas plant and they give you a bit of the standard answer — they’re ‘working within their conditions’ — and that’s about it.

“Our biggest complaint as much as anything is the fact we’ve had no one, other than at my invitation, come and talk to us to let us know what’s going on.”

An EPA spokesman said the authority was committed to ensuring the Port Campbell gas plants met their relevant licence conditions, including allowable noise levels.

“Both plants have invested considerable resources in upgrades in recent years, which have reduced noise levels,” the spokesman said.

“The EPA has received numerous complaints from Mr Clarke in relation to noise impacts at his nearby property.

“As part of our investigation, we requested access to Mr Clarke’s property to conduct assessments.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to negotiate suitable access arrangements.

“Discussion will continue and the EPA is in dialogue with Mr Clarke about his concerns.

“It is really important Mr Clarke and anyone affected by noise do so through the appropriate channel, by calling the EPA pollution hotline on 1300 372 842.”

Mr Clarke said the EPA’s past efforts to record a week of noise data had not been enough to prosecute.

“They need to have three noise readings above the limit to successfully prosecute, but they’ve never once tested here three times in a month, despite the gas company employees testing here at up to 45 decibels,” he said.

“By their own acknowledgement, they have staffing and funding issues and at the moment it’s only possible to test a week at a time.”