Hills of Gold Wind Farm

Please find attached City of Newcastle's advice on the development application.

Good morning and thank you taking the time to read and consider my submission on the project titled "Hills Of Gold Windfarm" that is proposed for the western face of the Great Dividing Range.
I object to this development on several groundsthat are as follows
Asthetics, the entire area is untouched and with very few blemishes on the natural environment. Driving through the area the main feature is the natural beauty of the region. To place 80 windturbines in the area would devestate the natural beauty of the region.
Noise, we visit Nundle regurlarly and stay in several locations that will be adjacentto the turbine sites. We would stop visiting Nundle to stay as a family as I believe that turbine noise and atmapheric disturbance from the turbines would be detrimental to to the peace and quiet we enjoy in the region.
Fire Fighting operations in the area often utilise aviation assets in conjustion with ground resources, In my experience tasking aircraft to the area in the event of a fire would be difficult in good conditions and prohibitive in adverse smoke conditions.
Environmental concerns. the proposed turbines sit on the western edge of the GDR, they sit on ridge lines and sunsequent earthworks and traffic would degrade these to a point where erosion WILL become an issue, silt Will wash into stable and clear waterways thus affecting aquatic life of all forms for many kilometers down stream of the turbine sites. IThere are numerous native species that live in the area, these will be adversly affected, Bird life in particular will suffer immensly as this project will extend the great wall of turbines along the western face of the Great Dividing range. No matter what engie states as data in their EIS the simple fact is that birdlife will suffer greatly.
community perception. Engie has run a some what dubious campaign in the community making outreageous statements such as they will provide FREE energy to the community, they have had several community members activelly attacking via social media, and via other means, people who have sought a balanced argument to the proposed develop,ment. Comments made such as "i dont care im allready getting paid [redacted]', I dont care [redacted] if you oppose the project", "its only a [redacted] old mine" are just some of the comments passed by these people. If Engie and its partners are allready participating in this kind of behaviour at this early stage of the project the community must really ask what will they be like when they are progressing the project and during its whole of life operation? will the be good and neighbours or the worst to ever move into the street. Rngie and its partners have caused nothing but division within the comminities to be affected as well as the wider state and national community with their paid employees attitudes towards any open, clear and balanced debate on the project.
Transort- I have driven the proposed routing for the transport of the turbine componants and again i must cast doubt. The EIS for this project states 3 clear routes. How is it acceptable for an entire avenue of trees to be removed to facilitate the so called "environmentally friendly" advancement of this project. Hoew will it be acceptable for 1 resident to have a turbine blade poking into his front yard and possibly lounge room within the village of Nundle?
Sirs and madams I have studied the EIS documents for thios project and fail to see how given the points listed above how this project will benifit Nundle, The communities of NSW and wider Auistralia and also meet any enviromnental benifits from wind energy. I am opposed to this development, but not renewable energy, on the basis that Nundle is a beautiful location with an amazing diversity of native wild life and the area should be preserved for just those animals and birds. Our Wildlife is allready having to battl;e a great wall of turbines that is increasing and its time we as a nation and community gave them a break and GAP in that wall where they can fly freely without risk of turbine strike.
I thank you for your time and appreciate the abilty to submit my opinion on the project at hand.

I object to the proposal to completely bulldoze the Devil's Elbow (platypus habitat, frog habitat, butterfly habitat lives there, 150 year old trees to the sides of the road), I object to a huge swathe to be gouged from the ridge overlooking Nundle, a ridge where koalas, endangered insects, endangered frogs and rare birds and plants live and have their homes. I don't object to windfarms. I object to a windfarm this location. Installing a windfarm on the ridge at Hanging Rock will cause unnecessary destruction to animal habitat. Birds, migrating birds, rare butterflies, bats will all be easily killed when their flight path carries them into the massive propellers. Findings from dozens and dozens of impact studies taken from all over the globe highlighting the negative impacts of wind farms erected in wrong locations are available.
The location of this windfarm proposal is not suitable.
And yet, one solitary family stands to become very, very rich out of this deal, a fellow who has known about this windfarm proposal for two decades who has been systematically buying up the land parcels on the ridge for over 20 years. Aspects of the proposal reek of shonky deals, skullduggery and secret insider information from the start. [Redacted] will clear out and take his bag of [redacted] and sit [redacted] on the seat of a Sunseeker yacht and never give a second thought to how he acquired his [redacted] nor the devastation of many habitats and the effect on his former neighbour's lives and wellbeing, of which will be his tragic legacy. The town will never see "the money" but will certainly see and feel the effects. Permanently.
And the ugly view. What an ugly view overhead. The vibrations created through the ground for many kilometres affects every living thing adversely.
A cleared plain, away from people, a plain which is burned out and has lost habitat already, is batter than destroying more habitat to put in a daftly located windfarm.
After the massive loss of wildlife with the 2019 bushfires and there are already CLEARED spaces which are more suitable than dragging chains through pristine areas further killing off even more endangered animals and wildlife.
There are too many ramifications to clearing this ridge for a windfarm.
Please visit the site for yourself and LOOK at what is going to be lost forever.
Thank you for reading my email.

To whom it may concern.
This submission is in relation to the Hills of Gold Windfarm Project and my objection to this. I do not hold any political affiliations nor have I made any political donations. I am a resident at Shearers Road, Hanging Rock NSW 2340. I have resided there the majority of my childhood and have enjoyed living there throughout my young life. When I became aware of the proposed windfarm I was quite disheartened and upset with what was being proposed. Below I will outline my concerns and reasons for objecting to this.
Firstly I would like to outline the impact this will have to our daily lives, not only having to hear them everyday as the rotate echoing the valley where we live but seeing the red beacons flood the hills at night when we all have enjoyed the peacefulness of the ecosystem we have grown up with. I would like to also point out the impact it will have to us if we are ever require urgent medical attention. The proposed windfarms will result in a no fly zone in the direct path of medical attention resulting in helicopters having to fly around these turbines wasting precious moments to avoid these objects as well as the additional time it would take ambulances or medical personnel to attend to injured parties or people experiencing life threatening injuries. Example of this is when a family member collapsed on the ground whilst on the property and a Westpac Helicopter was required, if these turbines were approved we could see in excess of an additional 5 – 10 mins of flight time each way to avoid no fly zones proposed in this project significantly impacting on the medical personnel to complete their role and saving a life. We have been told that a medical station will be situation during the project but nothing has been disclosed if residence will have access during an emergency nor would I suspect they will be adequately trained to the standards of a Care Flight doctor or a paramedic.
This project is out of character for the rural landscape and will impact the visual amenity of the area. Minimal consideration has been made towards ensuring we preserve the natural beauty and ecology of this area which is known to have animals such as Koalas, Echidnas, Platypus and wedge tailed eagles to name a few. Only recently were we asked to have a biodiversity assessment completed of our properties, let me just add to offset the destruction this project will cause. The major beneficiary Mr Jim Robinson to the best of my knowledge will not be subject to having his land ‘locked in’ so no clearing can be competed ([redacted] to build his new house and facilitate his needs) and that we will be expected to offset the damage he wishes to create as a result of this project. All proposals to benefit surrounding properties result in minimal payments and in most cases no compensation to landowners who will be most impacted by this project. No consideration has been made to the natural aquifers and underground water in the area which has supported many farmers during historical droughts and times of need, filling dams and rivers in the area nor has there been consideration for run off as a result of this construction which will contaminate the natural water supply. When asked for the ecological report for this area I was told we would be provided a copy of the preliminary findings, not sure what sensitive information is contained in an ecological report for the area that we reside in and why we can never be provided information even after asking for it so we can remain informed about projects that will impact us.
I further wish to include the impact this will have to our ability to access our own property. Reading information obtained from other landowners and through social media was it made aware that they would require additional private infrastructure to be created to facilitate this project. I was of the view this project was meant to improve the environment not cause more damage to the environment before it is even built. This project will impact residents and farmers alike restricting our ability to access our land during construction and what I suspect well after the turbines are built. Minimal consideration has been completed, lack of traffic assessment have been completed nor were residents even aware of the impact and it was only as a result of asking questions of Aref, a project lead that I was told that he will look into this for us. There has been no consultations with landowners and often asked if I help in identifying landowners and contacting them, I was of the opinion this would have been a requirement before considerations of projects such as these are considered.
In summary this project will not benefit the community, lacks any substance to improve the area and provide a benefit other than to the majority landowner where the turbines are expected to be located. Especially in an area that has already been subject to floods, droughts and natural disasters no consideration has been made to ensure the ongoing improvement and sustainability of the area nor has the project lead ever considered these factors.

Sincerely

Heritage NSW comments on the ACH assessment.

I OBJECT TO THE PROJECT

I have attached my submission

See attached.

See attached.

See attached.