Hills of Gold Wind Farm.

There has been significant land clearing done on hundreds of acres of old growth prior to this project being announced publicly in order to get approval. The windfarm serves no benefit to the community. It will be detrimental to the native bird life and water supply, we are currently on water restrictions in nundle and they will be using a massive amount town water for the project. We are still drought effected.

Please find attached a submission on the Hills of Gold Wind Farm
Brian Tomalin

There are many reasons why a wind farm would be detrimental to the land at Hanging Rock. In order to construct these wind farms you need a considerable amount of land since you have to dig deep enough to pour the concrete base for a wind turbine. The forests and fields at Hanging Rock are too precious to be violated by constructing a wind farm. Groundwater will be in jeopardy if they have to dig too deep for a wind turbine. Wind farms also generate too much noise which would disturb the peace and quiet in the area let alone affecting animals too in a negative way. There is too much to lose and very little to gain by this wind farm project and I am definitely against it.

Offset & Mitigate
We in Nundle live here because we love our unique mountain beauty, the flora and fauna, the town and it’s people. We chose to live here because of it.
Our business owners also live and work here for this reason. It is the unique beauty and serenity of our town that keeps us here and attracts tourists to also enjoy this magnificent beauty and scenery and to patronise our businesses. These businesses also attract the tourists. This all keeps the town alive and why we all live here.
But now we have “Offset and Mitigate”. This is where developers now want to destroy the unique beauty of our location and take it away from us and place it a hundred kilometers away so we can never see and enjoy it again. They want to replace this beauty with an industrial wind farm we don’t want or need and replace it with a ‘Community Fund” we also don’t want or need. None of us are here for a ‘Community Fund”. This wind farm will not bring tourists to our town. It will drive them away. Especially during the massive construction phase. Tourist and caravaners will stop coming due to the huge delays as thews blades and towers are transported to the location. Once word of mouth spreads at warp speed the tourists will disappear. It will take years and year to get them back The business community in Nundle can’t afford the costs of national adverting to get them back. This so called development will destroy thethis town and why we live here.
We are quite happy to volunteer and work to do various events to raise funds for our community projects. We get a sense of achievement and self worth in doing this work to achieve our goals. And we do very well in this small community in achieving those goals. This is what “Community” is about. It is not about a fund in the form of a bribe to compensate us for the loss of our unique beauty and life style. What we have here in Nundle and Hanging Rock is priceless. You can never afford to buy it. Not everything in life is about money. This community is not for sale.
You can go shove ‘Offset and Mitigate”. Go away and offset and mitigate this Wind farm somewhere else.

Renewable Energy is paving the way for a more sustainable future and it is projects like this that allow humanity to progress forward

I think the project is fantastic and will be a great step forwards in displacing fossil fuels from the energy system. I believe the project is well designed, stacks up economically and will perform technically. It's location will be ideal to support the NEM when Liddell closes, and to complement the Central West Orana and New England REZs. It will bring additional income for landowners and jobs to the region during construction and several during operation. I would love to see the Hills of Gold windfarm go ahead.

I am strongy objecting to the use of Hills of Gold as the title of this project. The name conjures up our magical hills .And their beautiful colour at Sunset. I also find the information given out by information centre in Nundle Town hall to be very evasive and not portraying the true size or impact of the project..The montages with superimposed specks of white portraying turbines are very misleading in my view.The proposed route up to the site is not at all clear stating a private road will be constructed through the extreme bushland..to Hanging Rock ..The alternative secondary preferred route via Crawney is almost dismissed by the Engie WEP representatives...Surely residents in these areas need to have a say...Thank you.

Please see my attached submission on photomontages

Please see my attached submission on Social and Economic Impacts

I lived in and around the Dungowan valley / Nundle area for 16 years. I oppose this project. I am very concerned about the environmental impact of the construction, and particularly the potential disruption to this very important water catchment area. Major construction of this kind, together with the associated access to the area will also have a deleterious effect on this very important ecosystem. This project is not supported by the majority of people living in this area. I support the establishment of wind power and the use of renewable energy, but this is not the right location.

I have lived on a family farm just outside of Nundle for the past 40 years moving here after marrying my husband who is a true Nundle local. I believe that the Hills of Gold wind farm would be a huge asset to the Nundle / Hanging Rock area. Creating job opportunities for locals who instead of them having to leave the area to get a job they would have the opportunity to stay in the area for work. This would then increase the numbers with in the villages, adding children to the local school, which has declined in students greatly since my children went there over 20 years ago. With more younger people staying with in our community means they would be spending local money in the local businesses. This would insure the future of Nundle and Hanging Rock as wonderful places to live and bring up families as well as adding another tourism attraction to the area. I think wind and solar are definitely the way Australia need to focus on for our electricity for the future. We need to be ensuring that our grandchildren and their children have a renewable source of electricity.

I believe that wind power is a great thing when deployed at the right place, However putting a wind farm would completly destroy the beautiful scenery as it would not fit in att all.

I strongly support this project on the following grounds:-
1. Australia has an abundance of wind and sunshine, that if suitable projects are placed appropriately and managed responsibly, can supply our power needs well into the future.
2. Existing coal fired Power Stations, such as Liddell (due for closure in 2022) and Bayswater (approx 2035) need to be replaced with environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives such as this, in combination with other existing and proposed solar/wind projects.
3. This project has the strong support of those most affected, namely a large number of surrounding and adjoining neighbours.(Admittedly, benefiting financially)
4. The project fits in beautifully with the existing rural usage of these properties, which is primarily cattle production.
5. The project is extremely well located along a mountain ridgeline away from town and is close to the existing 330kv power transmission line from Liddell to Tamworth.
6. Despite some very vocal and negative outlooks from a small segment of the Nundle area community, there are such considerable long term financial. tourist and social facility benefits for the whole area that could be realized if the project proceeds.
6. Nundle is stagnant, with a declining school population that will, in time, lead to loss of teaching staff and possible school closure. The area (like so many rural communities) needs a long term shot in the arm. Employment is stagnant, with timber mills and Council facilities having been curtailed and reduced in recent years. The local population is ageing, with no facilities such as aged care and retirement homes to cater for the needs of the ageing population.
7. The project is NOT on the doorstep of the local town. The nearest turbine will be approx 8km away and will be visible from some rural areas but still in the distance. Ironically, there is a much sought after rural subdivision with many new and expensive homes built at a place called Muscle Creek, just south of Muswellbrook and yes , only 8km from Liddell and Bayswater Power Stations. These residents seem happy enough, even though they must suffer from a polluted atmosphere caused by emissions from these power stations. The smoke pall can be clearly seem on most days in the area. I know, as I work at Muswellbrook and have done for 18 years.
8. Sure, there will be challenges to be faced getting plant, materials and personnel to site via local roads. Just as there were challenges when Chaffey Dam, (not far from Nundle) was constructed and upgraded. But the community benefitted from the increased traffic and workers that stayed in the area while construction was undertaken. This project will still retain a number of personnel who will all live and settle locally and will support local businesses and schools.
9. The project itself, I am sure will boost and provide an additional major tourist attraction for the area, drawing people from far and wide who will stay and support the local economy.
10. The benefits of this project proceeding,not only support Nundle/Hanging Rock in so many ways, but also the surrounding areas such as Tamworth, Quirindi, Willow Tree, etc. Materials and labour will flow from these areas into the Nundle area.
11. The very negative and untrue remarks made by people from Sydney and elswehere, eg 2GB radio, Sky News, etc, are just as a result of being fed nonsense and not fact by those who oppose any form of change. Many people have made comments without either ever visiting the area or visiting the area once (Eg, Ben Fordham - Radio 2GB)
These people are in the main, not long term residents having grown up in the Nundle/Hanging Rock area. When they get older, they will return to Sydney or the coast where they came from, leaving no legacy for the local area
12. In conclusion, I have read the environmental, heritage and all of the items in the government submission and I find that the important aspects of the project appear to have been very carefully covered. I strongly support the project being approved.

I object to this wind farm development as I believe it will have negative impact on the environment and tourism to the Nundle/Hanging Rock area.

I support the Hills of Gold Wind Farm and wind energy in general. I have been to half a dozen and more wind farms making hobby videos for the future and uploading them on youtube for the younger generations. The wind farm will be good for Nundle as it should provide jobs for the local towns.