Further community investment initiatives

Transgrid, in partnership with Lumea, is delivering an Australia-first initiative that integrates mobile coverage boosters directly onto transmission towers along the HumeLink corridor. This will improve reception for residents, businesses, motorists and emergency services in areas that have experienced long-standing mobile black spots.

The program installs solar-powered telecommunications equipment onto existing and new transmission towers, using the height and geographic reach of the infrastructure to capture and extend Telstra mobile signals to surrounding communities.

HumeLink will fund up to 10 boosters across the corridor, with installations already completed at Myrtleville and Chatsbury in the Upper Lachlan Shire and Wyangle in the Snowy Valleys. Further sites will be rolled out across the Cootamundra–Gundagai, Wagga Wagga and Snowy Valleys local government areas.

The boosters are designed as permanent infrastructure, operating independently of mains power and monitored remotely with minimal on-site maintenance requirements. At this stage, the solution supports Telstra mobile services, with options to expand to additional networks being explored.

To find out more, contact the HumeLink team at humelink@transgrid.com.au or 1800 317 367.

As part of the HumeLink Community Investment and Benefits Program, Transgrid has partnered with Grand Pacific Health to deliver a Community Resilience and Mental Health Program for communities along the HumeLink corridor.

The program provides accessible mental health services and resilience-building support for communities within the HumeLink footprint, including the Upper Lachlan Shire, Yass Valley, Snowy Valleys, Cootamundra–Gundagai and Wagga Wagga local government areas. It was developed in response to community feedback, gathered since 2021, which highlighted concerns about social connection and wellbeing during major infrastructure delivery. 

Grand Pacific Health will deliver early intervention support and supported-referrals to longer-term care, alongside mental health literacy and resilience training including Mental Health First Aid, Accidental Counsellor and community workshops. Support is delivered through local organisations and community networks to ensure it is accessible and responsive to local needs.

With more than 30 years of experience delivering mental health services across regional NSW, Grand Pacific Health brings an established local presence and strong understanding of the communities it serves.

To find out more, contact Maria Simunovic-Winchester, Community Resilience and Engagement Coordinator at Grand Pacific Health, on (02)64534436 or msimunovicwinchester@gph.org.au.

Transgrid has partnered with the Mulloon Institute to deliver a landscape rehydration program across three sites along the HumeLink corridor. It will support long-term land health, water quality and agricultural productivity through landholder-led, place-based approaches.

Tooles Creek, located approximately 20 kilometres southeast of Wagga Wagga, is the first confirmed site for the program. The creek has experienced long-term hydrological degradation caused by erosion and altered water flows, reducing soil health, water quality and agricultural productivity across the catchment over many decades. The project uses nature-based solutions and natural infrastructure to restore how water moves through, and is stored in, the landscape.

When a landscape is rehydrated, the conditions for plant growth are re-established: soil fertility rebuilds, carbon is fixed in the ground, biodiversity recovers and water availability improves. The flow-on results include increased agricultural productivity, improved water quality and greater resilience to climate extremes such as drought and flood.

In addition to Tooles Creek, the Mulloon Institute will run an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to identify two further locations in the project footprint.

Across these locations, Communities of Practice will be established to bring together landholders, First Nations Custodians and local partners to share knowledge, build skills and deliver on-ground restoration works.

Activities will include demonstration sites, landholder mentoring and capacity-building programs designed to rebuild natural water flow paths, reduce sediment entering waterways and improve habitats for native species. The program recognises that the knowledge landholders build through this process will continue to benefit their properties and communities well beyond the life of the HumeLink project.

Interested in getting involved?

If you are a landholder or community member and would like to find out more about the program or upcoming EOIs, please contact the HumeLink project team at humelink@transgrid.com.au or 1800 317 367.