Central-West Orana REZ Transmission

I strongly object to the Central-West Orana REZ Transmission project and do not want the district covered in high voltage transmission lines and towers. I do not want our natural country to be turned into an industrial landscape of wind turbines, which as proven will KILL thousands of our endangered wild life including Koalas, Birds, Kangaroos.
The environmental cost far outweighs any benefits of wind turbines. This destruction of our environment must STOP and alternative energy sources investigated.

I don't want an industrialised landscape or noise pollution.

I object to this Wind Turbine project also any other any high voltage transmission lines or solar panels due to high environmental costs. I believe these projects are unsafe for both farmers and animal life in the area. invading fertile farmland and affecting farmers production and way of life is unfair.

This project has many environmental issues
They cannot be recycled as well as the cost to install
People unable to live around them
You will be destroying good farm land
Causing vibration and toxic chemicalsto be present like BPA
The people realise it is a sneaky way that they are not disclosing contracts
It also opens up exportation by foreign entities
We the people do not want wind turbines
We do not want high voltage transmission lines and towers
Do not want beautiful country landscape turned into an industrial landscape

I object to the whole project, not only the transmission lines. This project is set to ruin a beautiful natural environment with unsightly wind towers, solar panels and transmission lines. None of these things are good for our environment. The power they provide will be expensive and unreliable. There are other ways to produce clean reliable power, and don't require new transmission line. How about a nuclear power plant in the place of Liddell Power Station in the Hunter Valley.

We are regular visitors to our family property on Yarrabin Road Mudgee. This region is beautiful country and used to provide much needed food to consumers.

I object to whats planned for the following reasons:
- The mega litres of water used to build the site will have an impact on the underground water table leaving farms in the area exposed.
- The height of the infrastructure is out of proportion and will impact the beauty of the area and ultimately land values
- We have had a number of bushfires in the region over the last decade and this will continue based on experts feedback. Having wind farms will make it impossible for aircraft to fight fires once the turbines are up. Will the government guarantee the safety of farms and people in the area when this defence it taken away?

Main concerns
- The Mega litres of water they will use to construct everything. Will it drop the underground water table leaving us and other exposed.
- Height total out of proportion
- Bushfire risk and inability for aircraft to fight fires once the turbines are up. They simply won’t go near them.
- Put the transmission lines underground not above. This is best practice in other parts of the world.
- The rain shadow effect the turbines create. Parts of Europe where these clusters are are getting less rain. Keep in mind there are another 90 going around Burrendong Dam only 20km away plus a proposed hydro plant.
- 30 percent decrease in value of the land.
- Mental health of community having to deal with all this

* I do not want the district covered in high voltage transmission lines and towers. It will impact human, animal and environment.
* I do not want the area turned into an industrial landscape of wind turbines (cannot be recycled) on the hills, fields of solar panels and the associated environmental costs.

To whomever could be bothered reading,
I object to the proposal.
Social Licence is of great importance not only for the community but for the success of the project.The Declaration of the Orana REZ was for many akin to a declaration of war.
The local people were not consulted or concidered in the making of this decision,they did not ask for this.I feel the Government has under estimated the attachment ,sense of belonging,care for the local enviroment,that the locals have.We choose to live here and we like it the way it is.Many families have developed and cared for the local area for many generations.Many families are related to one another.We had a strong sense of community.
The Dunedoo area in particular has already suffered greatly from Government intervention with the failed Cobbora Coal mine,where many properties were purchased leading to a loss of local families.
Damage to the community has already occured.This issue has been extremely devisive causing a break down in relationships between multi generational friends and within families.Some people are supporters of the project either through ignorance or because they are to reap a financial benefit.Many are apposed as they care for the land ,natural beauty of the region but also for their neighbours and friends or the nations wellbeing.Many of the hosts of renewable energy projects even though they have signed have done so with durress,as even though they are not supporters have felt that with the extreme government support of this project it was a forgone conclusion that it would proceed even with local opposition or with whatever enviromental damage.They therefore have secumbed to developers offerings rather than bear the cost of being a neighbour,or a member of a devastated community.
I fear that as the community is only just realising what is happening that opposition and conflict will only grow.
Resentment is extreme as lives have been thrown into turmoil.I warn that as the power lines are key in delivering this change to our way of life they could also become the easy target of revenge,some people will fight for their beliefs no matter the consequence.Even if you have no concideration for our district the will of the people should not be underestimated.
Social licence is important for many reasons,it is not something that is to be fleetingly concidered only to make you feel better,or tick a box.
Renewable energy at this scale and assosciated infrastructure is not wanted in any community have a rethink, it is too land intensive and enviromentally damaging,
Although renewable generation is relatively cheap the whole of system has not been properly costed to include the cost of transmission,storage, management,reliability and enviroment, and the incidental costs of decommissioning recycling waste, roads, health ,bushfire, biosecurity,services,resources,labour, land values, aesthetics and community wellbeing to name a few.
A monumental failure of Government Policy.
With regards to the development application i question wether the inclusion of what should be privately funded connection line to' The valley of the winds' project or any other project is justified and why?Is it to enable compulsory aquisition?or put pressure on another unwilling host?Is it even allowable or ethical to submit a development application in relation to non approved generation projects?
I feel it is also poor community consultation not to even disclose future plans for expansion of the network to potentially affected communities although vaige plans can be found elsewhere.
Community support would have been enhanced if complete disclosure and justification with proper cost benefit analysis had been provided.Affected landholders and communities should be more than adequately compensated this has not even come close although i dont think it would be possible to monetarilly compensate for the damage done.
This infrastructure is the gateway to destruction and upheaval.Nothing good will come from this development not for us,the enviroment or the nation.
Politicians our so called representatives could not even be bothered addressing our concerns.Will the Minister responsible for approval or Department of planning have the spine?and honestly answer our questions or are you all unaccountable?

I strongly object to this project. I do not want to see this beautiful pristine land and the people and farmers who live there have their lives and land destroyed by any transmission lines and towers, wind turbines or solar panels. The environmental cost is very high. The fallout from these constructions will be far reaching and harmful to the environment for many years to come and this project needs to be stopped immediately

In attached submission

I don’t want the area to become an industrial landscape of wind turbines on the hills and fields. I don’t want the area to be covered in transmission lines that are health reducing physically and emotionally!

The cumulative impact and loss of biodiversity associated with the installation and maintenance of high voltage power line easements across the Central-West Orana region, an already over-cleared landscape, is unacceptable.
1. The CWO-REZ project should include the alternative of underground transmission lines, particularly in sensitive areas containing high biodiversity or bushfire vulnerable zones.
2. Ignition from overhead powerlines increases the risk of destructive wildfires during extreme and catastrophic fire days with the drying of the landscape from climate change. The long term economic cost and difficulties of suppressing fuel loads and ignition points along powerline easements cannot be ignored. Government must place all power cables that pass through native forest areas underground. High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) transmission lines have been criticised and sued for damages for starting fires in many countries around the world, including Australia.
3. High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) should be considered an alternative to HVAC.
(https://reneweconomy.com.au/ac-versus-dc-why-australia-should-re-think-its-network-plans-72499/)
HVDC are not at risk of starting bushfires and do not need to be turned off if they are in the path, or in the vicinity of a Bushfire. It is much safer to consider undergrounding power assets wherever possible. For long-distance Transmission, HVDC systems have many benefits, are less expensive and have lower electrical losses.
4. Highly modified, un-rehabilitated mined land should be prioritised for solar farm projects.
5. The assessment of the CWOREZ project should consider alternatives including the of HVDC technology,
investment in micro-grids, community batteries, and off-grid renewable energy generation for households and businesses.
Thank you

This will result in the destruction of towns and localities in this area, and also the destruction of very productive farmland.

This project should cease immediately. There will be huge environmental damage to plant life plus displacement of a variety of animal life. There will be loss of good farmland. There will be a huge impact to local farming communities in the loss of jobs and human displacement potentially ruining the lives of many.

This project is trying to turn an agricultural region into an industrialised landscape in the name of the environment. Erecting gigantic, environment spoiling wind towers along ridges and spurs of a mountain range that is the home to so many native endangered species shows the hypocrisy of the idea of 'green energy'. To construct these huge monoliths environmental rape has to occur. Major quarries have to be created to supply the necessary components to secure these monoliths to the ground. Acres of trees have to be cut down to allow access. The aquifers will be severely effected to secure water for the project. They will be an eyesore and a mechanical monstrosity impacting the visual amenity of this agricultural region.
In addition to the blot on the landscape that the wind turbines will be there is the added impost of the transmission lines emitting from them. Huge monstrosities of steel and wires strung across paddocks and fields impeding day to day farming activities and destroying the natural beauty of the area. Adding to the ugliness of the turbines and towers is the incursion of people to construct the grotesqueness. Thousands of strangers placed together in temporary workers accommodations close to idyllic villages that have not the amenities or inclination to provide support to them. Current plans have the accommodation located kilometres away from construction stites. These workers will be then travelling daily to and from construction sites in vehicles along roads not designed for high volume traffic. The location for the camps for temporary workers accommodation should be located on the properties of the people that have offered to host the wind turbines and nowhere else. This would mitigate the impact on roads.
We have been in opposition to this project since its inception. This is an area for agriculture. There are enough challenges in agriculture without poorly thought out government plans imposing restrictions on our ability to conduct our business.

I object to this project on the basis of:
Visual amenity
Detrimental environmental impact/fire hazard risk
Industrialisation of productive agricultural land

I object to the proposal. I don’t want large renewable energy projects in our area.

This project is essential for future electricity use, and the move to cleaner energy,

I have grown up within the CWO region and it is disappointing to see that we have been rezoned to a renewable energy zone. Why was there no open community consultation regarding this process?

My earlier years were spent working with livestock on the land in these areas and it was there that I gained my love for the farming and rural lifestyle. It is extremely disappointing to see that the Energy Co’s proposed project will shatter all of this not only for myself, but for other like-minded individuals within our community.

I hold strong concerns as to what will become of rural Australia’s future when primary agricultural land had been destroyed in the name of unreliable energy. The ripple effect this will have on communities is something that Energy Co has not fully investigated; however, it will be up to us – the residents – to pick up the pieces and try to move forward with the surrounding environmental and community destruction.

I do not wish to see landscapes and farming land cluttered with infrastructure such as high-voltage transmission towers and power lines, industrial wind turbine factories, industrial solar factories, and BESS facilities etc.

I do not wish to see the habitats of endangered native animals threatened due to the proposed renewable infrastructure.

I do not wish to see livestock under threat due to the proposed renewable infrastructure. I have concerns pertaining to EMF issues, vibration and flicker issues from industrial wind turbines, and high-pitch sounds coming from solar system inverter set-ups. I do not believe that Energy Co have investigated these matters enough. The last thing farmers need are animal rights activists on their doorsteps because livestock are suffering due to nearby infrastructure – something that is beyond control of said farmers.

I do not believe that Energy Co fully comprehend the negative impacts their project will have on regional communities, and it is for these reasons, I object to their project.