Biala Wind Farm

I object to the Biala Wind Farm proposal. I object for the following reasons:
- There are already many wind turbines in that region, including a windfarm at Grabben Gullen that is under construction, as well as an approved wind farm that has not yet started construction, near Crookwell, and another still to be determined, near Crookwell. For the sake of local residents, the majority who do not want the project to go ahead, there has to be a point where enough is enough, and I believe there are enough already.
- Each wind farm has the potential to devalue property. Too many wind turbines in a given area will cause a drop in market value, and for non hosting residents, this is not fair.
- In the submission I could not see how they resolved the issues raised by the community or community groups. It states in the submission that the community and community groups raised issues such as visual impact, noise, property devaluation and a lot more. Screening with plants is not adequate, as many affected residents may not live the 20 years plus it will take for the screening to grow to effective height. I do not believe the proponent has listened to the majority of local residents. The community consultations, as with many I have attended, provide minimal information and do nothing to understand or address the concerns of the community. They consult with hosts, get their agreement and then disregard any thing other local residents have to say. This is not fair!
I have met residents in several wind farm locations, who do suffer from health impacts directly caused by nearby wind farms. Some suffer from sleep disturbance, others from headaches and nausea. Further research, as suggested by Steve Cooper, who recently reported on a study he had undertaken to identify health impacts caused by wind farms, needs to be done before any more wind farms are approved.
- I do not believe the ecology studies were sufficient. I live in the Southern Tablelands and am aware of the seasonal and migratory fauna that travel through my property. Some wild life may only stay a week or so before moving on, but they do this twice a year. 5 days to do a field trip may mean you miss seeing what may have visited a week later. Eagles are a common sighting in the area, but may not have been sighted in a five day period. It does not mean they do not live in the area.
- The turbines proposed are enormous, possibly the largest proposed to date. The visual impact will be horrendous to those impacted. There is no possible way to mitigate this. Why Is there at no point a discussion held where the community can choose the type of renewable energy they would prefer to see built in their local area. Solar has much less visual impact and this should be a choice the community has a chance to address.
To conclude I, as mentioned above object to the Biala Wind Farm proposal due to lack of community consultation, visual impact, health impacts, noise, including infrasound, impact, insufficient research on impacts on fauna, and an oversupply of turbines in that particular region.

I have several areas of concern and objection in relation to this submission.

Roads - maintenance and safety
Fire Hazard - during construction and operational
Real Estate Values
Regulations re the deconstruction of wind farm at its expiry.

Currently I travel the Gunning Crookwell road twice dialy to meet the school bus at Grabben Gullen. The traffic on this road in general is increasing and I fear that with the construction of the wind farm it will escalate to a level which will increase the risk to my family whilst travelling this road for the necessity of attending school.
I was informed at the community information day that there will be speed restrictions placed on this road during the construction period. I find this to be unacceptable and highly unfair to penalise motorists/ratepayers in time for the gain of a few landholders and the developer. it will mean that a round trip that currently takes me nearly 1 hour each morning and afternoon will then be close to 2 hours. It was suggested to me that in my objection I was to request that at the cost of the developer a school bus be funded to ensure the safety of our children and that traffic directly associated with works on the wind farm construction be forbidden to use the road during the period of time the school bus would be travelling.
The condition and maintenance of the road is also an area of great concern as we waited a long time to have this road sealed to the high standard we experience now. I believe the condition of this road will deteriorate and not be returned to it's current condition on the completion of this project as we have previously seen across our shire. Hence, motorists safety is again compromised.

Presently, B-Double trucks are not permitted by local government to travel this road which means that we are strictly limited in the transport of livestock to market and ultimately costs us more. Yet the vehicles transporting these huge turbines and towers will be allowed to travel them. Where is the difference and why is the developer not being made to upgrade the road to a higher standard to allow these heavier vehicles to travel ensuring the safety of fellow motorists.

Biala is a farming community and during dry periods fire hazard is a great concern to the residents. I am concerned that the construction of the wind farm itself poses a fire risk which could threaten our livelihoods and businesses. The ongoing operation of the wind farm also increases this risk given wind turbulence and flight restrictions as well as increased power lines in our area. At present funding to protect our properties from fire risk is minimal and it concerns me that this increased risk will stretch our resources beyond being able to keep us safe.

It has been seen all over Australia that real estate prices have dramatically fell within close proximity to wind farm and in fact in some places a market no longer exists. We are fifth generation farmers at Biala and our forefathers as well as ourselves have invested a lot to maintain our property to prime rural real estate value. As the future of farming is guarded at best, wind farms will greatly affect our land values. Wind farms do not belong in the middle of prime rural areas. They belong in wastelands where real estate values are not subject to their existence.

On each of the three community information days held I have raised my concern re the deregistering/expiry of the wind farm and have not yet been given any assurance that these turbines will be deconstructed at the finality of operations. I would like in writing to be guaranteed that this will occur and who will be responsible for the process, regardless of the time lapse.

Finally, wind farms are in my belief, not "green energy". They are purely abhorrent constructions at a huge cost to our environment for the financial gain of the landholder, the local shire and the developer. The carbon foot print generated in the manufacturing and construction of these monstrous turbines will not in their lifetime become neutral. For this reason alone the application should be rejected and our beautiful rolling green hills should be left in their natural state.

I expect each of my concerns will be addressed satisfactorily in writing and implore that the development application is rejected.

Thankyou for the opportunity to raise my objection.
Yours sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX

The EIS does not address the requirements of the Revised Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements letter of 19 May 2015, in that it fails to provide an analysis of potential land use conflicts relating to rural residential development and property values.

Citing studies relating to property value impacts of other wind farm industrial developments does not constitute an analysis of the Biala proposal. Moreover, one cited study, Hives (2008) indicates that lifestyle properties are "most vulnerable" and yet no further analysis is done on rural residential property values in the proposed development.

As Angus Taylor MP, Member for Hume (the local Federal Electorate) mentioned at a recent community meeting in Tarago (which also has a wind farm proposal) large industrial developments including wind farms should not be situated in rural residential areas where property values, lifestyle and visual amenity are impacted.

Mr Taylor MP, also advocated the need for NSW to undertake revised land use planning zoning which should zone wind farm type developments to rural areas with low population densities and property values. That is, not in high value rural residential and agricultural areas that are close to rural towns and major urban centres.

Taking into account the above, should the NSW Government approve the Biala wind farm development a condition of any such approval should be compensation to all impacted residents and the requirement for the proponent to buy out property owners on just terms, in the area, should they wish.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission.

The Bialla proposal should not be approved due to the obvious visual impact on Residents living within 10kms of the project, and the noise implications when operating. Under the title of 'Project Benefits" Newtricity state "The Project will make a substantial contribution to renewable energy generation in NSW". I do not believe 31 turbines can make a substantial difference, particularly when the impact to local roads, farming communities, and wildlife will be substantial. A precedence has been set with the Gullen Range Windfarm, (which is close to this proposal). The building of industrial power stations in rural areas is disruptive and noisy, and visual impact is enormous.
I ask that NSW Planning & Environment, when considering this application, take into account the problems associated with the Gullen Range development and ensure these same problems do not happen again, particularly the building of turbines in places contrary to the approval, and in close proximity to homes.
I am also concerned that the proposed transmission line to connect the wind farm to the electricity grid will not be part of this development application when it is clearly part of this proposal, and is significant in itself.

The Rye Park Action Group ask that this application be rejected.
The impact on visual amenity and noise, along with the disruption to the village of Grabben Gullen and local farmers will be significant, especially when taking into consideration that it will be additional to that of the Gullen Range WF that is currently operating north of Grabben Gullen, and the Gunning WF to the East, effectively surrounding residents with industrial wind turbines on a massive scale.
The maps for this proposal also clearly indicate the siting of turbines in close proximity to, and surrounding, pockets of remnant vegetation that currently cover a large area of the proposal. It seems there has been a deliberate plan by landowners to provide habitat, pathways and flight zones for native birds, animals and reptiles to enhance the relationship between food and fibre production and the natural environment. The turbines will be situated in such a way as to disrupt these pathways and flight zones and, in the case of a large area of trees at the north east of the proposal, will dissect with access roads and power lines, both above and below ground.
We ask that the NSW Department of Planning & Environment reject this application not only on the basis of the impacts to the farms, people and environment at this site, but on the cumulative impacts of having such a large number of turbines already operating to the north and east, and additional proposals currently being planned to the south and west of this proposal.

I have serious concerns about the physical and emotional impact the project will have on the community and individuals, impact on land values, and the lack of factual information provided by companies that are building these projects. The large subsides that are provided by governments leaves me wondering wether these projects are as sustainable as they make out. What are we going to be left with once these projects become obsolete, what will the environmental impact be then????

I am lodging my opposition to the above project for the following reasons:
Noise including infrasound , health and stress issues for humans and animals
Damage to the environment including flora and fauna
Land degradation and erosion to local roads and wind tower sites
Increased heavy vehicle traffic for upto 2 years on local roads and through local villages
Increased bush fire danger with restrictions of access of water bombing aircraft
The alienation between families and friends in affected communities
The destruction of pristine bush and grasslands including rare bush orchids
The ugly intrusion of giant wind towers and transmission lines along the many hills
Decreased values of nearby residences and farms
The possibility of these wind towers being left at the end of their 20-25 year life to fall down or having to be removed at great cost to the host

Submission for Proposed Biala Windfarm
Submission by: Kenneth J Hewitt
Property Location: "Aralwood" 2814 Grabben Gullen Road, Grabben Gullen


I am an adjoining landholder of the proposed Biala Wind Farm. My property is made up of 450 ha with Grabben Gullen Road, dividing it hence I am on both sides of Grabben Gullen Road and share the boundary with the proposed wind farm.

Together with my wife and children, we live on the property and operate very successfully a sheep and cattle breeding operation and wool production. This is our sole income source.

We hold 2500 sheep, 30 rams, 30 breeding cows and approximately 70-80 trading cattle. The majority of our sheep are breeding.

Our homestead and shearing shed are on the eastern side of Grabben Gullen Road. Our homestead appears to be on the boundary of the 2km mark.

On the Western side of Grabben Gullen Road, which is the same side as the proposed wind farm, is where we run half of our breeding ewes, all of our rams and our trade cattle. The breeding ewes that we run on this side of the road are our Merino Ewes that we put to a Merino Ram. We have found that is our best practice to keep the Merino to Merino lambing on this side of the road as it is secluded, quiet, there is less interference with the sheep and the hills provide better protection. This is paramount to a successful lambing as it is widely known that Merino ewes have bad mothering skills, especially if disturbed in comparison to crossbred ewes.

There is also an existing dwelling structure, which was previously used for workers accommodation for spud picking, and vermin control. This structure therefore is well inside the 2km radius. Our ability to develop this for tourism and additional income will be greatly hindered.

In regards to our shearing shed, we have purposely built this shed to be dual purpose. The shed has been built with inside races and inside pens to allow us to work out of the elements. This way, we can work in any weather conditions safely.

Our operation entails that we move stock across the road on a regular basis, being every 4 - 6 weeks, for either our drenching program, crutching program, shearing program, lamb marking program, and jetting, just to name a few. For this, we currently hold a stock movement permit which allows us to move stock between sunrise and sunset. We are able to move stock in this time however we still need to be mindful of the weather conditions, being fog, visibility, and days actually suitable for stock movement.

The Grabben Gullen road is a main corridor between Crookwell and Canberra, and traffic is quite heavy during peak hours, being 6am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm. We note in the Traffic Management plan conducted by GTA Consultants that was taken on this road, that the times the traffic was monitored was in a low traffic time, being Thursday 4th December from 12.15 - 12.30pm. ( a 15 minute period out of only 1 day). This time frame is not in my opinion a true indication of the current traffic load on this road.

Whilst we are not jumping up and down in protest about the proposed Biala Windfarm, we do have serious concerns that are as follows:-

1. Significant Adverse Affects on the operation of our business

Stock Movement

The movement of stock will be compromised with increased traffic on the road. Although the speed limit is recommended to be reduced, history has show on the Gullen Range Windfarm, that this is not and will not be monitored. In order for us to move stock across the road, we have to put signage out and require traffic to obey the signs and stop and let the stock travel. At the best of times, we have great difficulty with this and there is no doubt that the construction phase will exacerbate it. We have concerns regarding the welfare of our stock and the safety of ourselves whilst moving the stock. It should be noted that it is not feasible to simply set a time to move the stock.

Disturbing of lambing

Due to the close proximity of the construction of the towers, we are very concerned about the work being carried out at the same time that we are lambing. Our lambing in from September to October. We believe the increased activity and noise from the proposed site will disturb our ewes which will see them move to one end of the paddock and most likely mismother their lambs which in turn will reduce our profit from loss of lambs.


2. Limitation of use of land

The proposed Biala Windfarm shows towers 1, 2, 3 5, & 6 to be very close (well under 2km radius) to our boundary fence on the Western side of the Grabben Gullen Road. It appears that towers 9, 10, 12 & 13 will be within 4km radius of our boundary fence.

With these towers being so close to our boundary, we are concerned about future subdivision and/or sale and the repercussions of having a wind farm so close. We feel that in the event of a sale either with the property as a whole or a subdivision that the windfarm will limit our market. We also feel that the ability to have a subdivision approved through council with turbines being so close will also hinder the approval.

3. Internet & TV Reception

Our tv reception is from Canberra. Our only available is via Satellite or Wireless. We have been wireless users for the past 10 years. We are concerned about any effects if any that the operational turbines will cause.


Proposal

We have had numerous discussions with ERM primarily in regards to the ongoing operation of our business and they are aware of our concerns. We believe that a solution to our stock movement issues would be to limit the amount of times that stock has to be moved. This can be achieved by only bringing the stock across the road for shearing and crutching which possibly could be down to 2-3 times per year. In order to do this, yards, race, loading ramp and undercover shed for working would need to be established on the western side of the Grabben Gullen Road. Although it would not be the same standard as what we already have in place, it would be a good compromise.


With regards to lambing and interference, we would simply request that the closest towers to our lambing paddocks have no work carried out on them for the months of September and October.


At this stage we do not have any suggestions regarding the limitation of our land in regards to decreased value and inability to subdivide however it should be noted that predominantly land is sold or subdivided for cash flow reasons or succession planning and this wind farm is taking that option away from us.

In conclusion, although not protesting about the proposed Biala Windfarm, we as adjoining landholders believe justly that we will be greatly inconvenienced and disadvantaged should the windfarm proceed.

Regards

Ken Hewitt

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Please see the attached document

I have uploaded my submission. Refer to: C:\Users\Jenny\Documents\Jupiter Wind Farm documentation and comments\False nor misleading v2 Biala submission for DPE.pdf