Jim O’Brien has grand plans for his Terang home once long-awaited natural gas is connected.
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Two new gas heaters will be the first order of business when his house is switched on in coming months.
Mr O’Brien has had plenty of time to think about it – it’s been more than 20 years since the then-councillor first began pushing for natural gas and about five years since the state government announced that Brookfield Infrastructure Group would complete the work.
Yesterday marked the best sign of progress so far with the main pipeline finally laid on Mr O’Brien’s street. Homes across Terang are expected be fully connected by September.
Now the job is done, the determined campaigner is quick to share the victory.
“It was never about me, it was always about the town,” Mr O’Brien, 86, said.
Over the years Terang watched on as nearby towns enjoyed the benefits of piped gas. Mr O’Brien said residents were forced to pay more for bottled gas and the town missed out on economic opportunities.
A former dairy farmer himself, he said many people moving off farms often decided to retire in better-serviced towns.
“This will help the Terang a lot,” he said.
The campaign for natural gas began when Mr O’Brien was a councillor at the former Mortlake council and he carried the issue with him to Corangamite Shire.
He said while some were reluctant at first, community support for the campaign grew, although, Mr O’Brien admits he thought he’s be “up on the hill” by the time it came to fruition.
“It’s been a long time coming.”
Speaking about the multi-million dollar gas roll-out earlier this year, project director Todd Henderson said Terang was the first of 11 towns being connected under the Regional Gas Infrastructure Project.
A daughter station has been constructed in Terang’s industrial estate with gas trucked in from further afield.
“What we’re doing is a virtual pipeline approach where we’re trucking gas from a mother station site in Bendigo and we’re bringing the gas to the town. This is effectively a receiving station for the gas, we’ll have storage and pressure reduction on this site, which then feeds into the township pipe network,” Mr Henderson said.