Matraville to Maroubra cable project

Our substations in Military Road, Matraville and Robey Street, Maroubra are connected by a 132,000 volt fluid filled underground cable that runs between the two sites. The cable is approximately 40 years old and is ready to be retired. The project is part of a program to retire fluid filled cables across our network.

Ausgrid started engaging with key stakeholders, such as Randwick City Council in November 2019 to obtain early feedback on the preferred cable route.

Engagement with residents and businesses along and around the preferred cable route started in late February 2020 when the first project newsletter was distributed. A copy of the newsletter can be found at the bottom of this page. 

On 3 March 2020, we held an information session at the Maroubra Senior Citizens Centre to seek local information and community feedback on the preferred cable route. Interested community members were invited to the information session through the newsletter, social media and an advert in the local newspaper.   

Ausgrid took the feedback received from the community and key stakeholders into consideration in finalising the project. We received twelve submissions during the Review of Environmental Factors (REF) exhibition period. The main areas of community interest were route selection, health and construction impacts.

All submissions were considered and addressed in the final REF. A report summarising all the feedback received from the community and key stakeholders during the REF exhibition period is available, along with the final REF attached at the bottom of this page.

Construction for this project will start in November 2021.

Ausgrid welcomes questions or comments about the project at any time (see project contacts top right). Community feedback assists us to identify potential issues and address them in our construction plans to minimise impacts.

There are several things we need to consider when planning cable routes. These include:

• cost (minimising the impact on electricity bills)
• minimising community and traffic impacts
• avoiding existing utility services in roads
• ground conditions
• environmental and heritage impacts
• technical feasibility.

Under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, Ausgrid is the nominated determining authority for assessing and approving works for the Matraville to Maroubra cable project. 

As part of this process, an environmental assessment (known as a Review of Environmental Factors or REF) has been prepared.  The REF investigates the potential environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of the new cable and will include a range of specialist studies and feedback from the community, councils and other authorities.

The REF was on exhibition from 15 March 2021 to 5 April 2021.

Following several stages of community engagement and further planning, Ausgrid has now finalised the Environmental Assessment (REF) and the project has now been approved for construction. The final REF can be viewed via a link at the bottom of this page.

REF Determination Report

Matraville to Maroubra Cable Project project REF - main document

Appendix A - Drawings and plans

Appendix B - Consultation Documentation

Appendix C - Magnetic Fields Report

Appendix D - Waste and Geotechnical Classification Reports

Appendix E - Arborist Investigation

This project will involve installing the new 132,000-volt cable and spare conduits through streets in Matraville and Maroubra. Retiring the existing cable between the substations would involve some work at various locations along that cable route and at the substations themselves.

This work will involve:

• Digging trenches in roads to lay conduits (plastic pipes) to accommodate the new cables
• Backfilling trenches and temporary resurfacing of impacted areas (trenching and temporary resurfacing takes about three days outside each property depending on ground and weather conditions)
• Excavating underground joint bays at various locations along the cable route
• Feeding in and joining sections of cable at the joint bay locations
• Permanently restoring impacted areas, in consultation with Council once the overall project is complete.

Retiring the existing cables will include:

• Excavating existing joint bays along the cable route
• Removing cable equipment
• Disconnecting the cables.
  As with any construction site, there will be some impacts including noise and dust. Ausgrid will make every effort to keep this to a minimum and will finish the work as quickly as possible. There will be temporary traffic, access, and parking disruptions along the cable route during construction. We will make every effort to keep these to a minimum.

We do not need to interrupt your electricity supply to do this work.

Final site investigations will be completed by our contractors Taihan and Garde along the cable route. This will be completed ahead of trenching to assess the ground conditions and to locate existing underground utility services.

Construction will start in November 2021 once the site investigations have been completed. Details of the construction process can be found under the ‘construction’ tab.