MOD 1 - Revised Road Design

I support the upgarde of Aarons Pass road

I wish to register my support for the upgrading of Aarons Pass Road

I would like to offer support of the upgrading of Aarons Pass road

I am offering my support for the upgrading of Aarons Pass road

I wish to give support for the Crudine Ridge Wind Farm, and the upgrading
of the Aarons Pass Road, so the Windfarm can continue.

The Aarons Pass road has always been no more than a narrow dirt road,
generally with a rough surface. The upgrading of the road by CWP would
be a benefit to the whole community, and be
Even more important, it must be upgraded to allow the continuation of
the Crudine Ridge Wind Farm. This is an important and worthwhile
renewable energy project, with millions of dollars already invested.
The upgrading of the road would allow work to continue, employment of
a large number of people , economic benefit to a number of farmers,
and infrastructure benefit to the community through the CWP Community
Fund. Added to this is the benefit of renewable energy produced by the
windfarm.
I only hope that the permission to continue is forthcoming ASAP, and
we can get on with work.

As an old Mudgee girl I wish to offer my support of the upgrade of Aarons
Pass road for safety reasons.

The current Aaron's Pass Rd is quite dangerous, being both narrow and
winding with safety being further compromised by poor visibility along
much of the route. Additionally, the road surface is generally poor
with gravel build up around road edges on bends increasing the
probability of skidding and loss of control of motor vehicles at many
points.

The proposed improvements by Crudine Ridge Wind Farm will enhance
safety on what has become an increasingly busy local road and I fully
support them.

I'm supportive of the modifications and road works to Aarons Pass road
providing additional dust suppression is used.

Post works and clearing it would be nice to see tree planting carried
out to replace those that were removed for the works.

The road across Aaron's Pass is in great need of upgrading. I teach at
Ilford Public school so I use Aaron's Pass almost every week day. At
times I have rung up my husband, Tony, to cut up a tree that has
fallen across the road so I can get through. If those trees had fallen
on a vehicle whole families could have been killed. It is impossible
to get 2 vehicles past in many sections of the road. As many
properties in the area have been purchased by Sydney commuters there
is a lot more 4 wheel drive traffic on this road. It is impossible to
see approaching vehicles on many sharp bends and through dense trees.
For the safety of the community, an upgrade is essential.

Following the decision of the Federal Department of Environment, Crudine
Ridge Wind Farm has legal authority to build only 37 turbines. The 77
turbines they refer to is now a fiction. Any change in environmental
impact in a modification proposal must be judged against the project
with 37 turbines, which they are authorised to build, not against 77
turbines which they are not authorised to build.

On that basis the modification will cause major, increased harm to the
environment and must be rejected.

I support the project because it presents an opportunity to benefit the
local region both economically and environmentally, through employment
opportunities, community befit funds and a reduced reliance on
non-renewable fossil fuel energy sources. Not only does the local
region have a responsibility to encourage viable and sustainable
sources of economic growth, they also have an ethical responsibility
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (particularly in light of the
IPCC's most recent special report on the impacts of global warming of
1.5°C above pre-industrial levels).

While the wind turbines may be a new feature on the landscape, they
offer a unique opportunity to generate energy with very little impact
on existing land usages. To pass up on such on opportunity, for the
potential benefit to the few and subsequent detriment to the many,
would be a gross miss-judgement based on emotional reaction and
short-sightedness (which is sadly an approach that plagues many
political decisions in this country and abroad).

As a young person and resident of the Hunter region, I wish to see
much greater uptake of renewable energy generation sources across
Australia; not only as a means to combat climate change, but also to
reduce the significant and dangerous health impacts associated with
fossil fuel energy sources - particularly coal.

Along with the signifiant climate/environmental impacts related to
coal-fired power, it is estimated that 3429 deaths will occur as a
result of coal-fired pollution over the remaining lifetime of
coal-fired power stations in my local region (Dr Ben Ewald, GP,
University of Newcastle). This is unacceptable, and we must push
wherever we can to reduce our reliance on dangerous energy sources.

I urge you, whoever the reader may be, to encourage any viable
development or expansion of renewable energy generation. We owe it to
the people, our country, and the world to alter our current path if we
wish to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change. This
project presents a clear opportunity to do right on all fronts and we
should not let it go to waste.

The wind farm started massive removal of trees along Aarons Pass Road
until the Department of Planning forced them to stop. That massive
tree removal was contrary to the plan approved by the PAC when it
consented to the wind farm. It was stopped only after locals forced
the Department to inspect what was happening. It was so obviously
contrary to consent conditions the Department had no choice other than
to stop it.

The fact that the developer has been forced to lodge a modification is
a further admission that it was breaching conditions. Now it wants
formal approval to continue destroying the environment along Aarons
Pass Road. That approval must be denied. The wind farm must be
required to comply with the original plan it put to the PAC which was
the basis on which the whole wind farm was approved.

I fully support the modification of the project.
The upgrade to Aaron's pass road is vital to the safety of the local
residents. It is long overdue to be upgraded to a 2 lane road, why not
take advantage of the project and have the upgrade paid by the
company.

The economical boost to both Mudgee and Bathurst from the construction
of the wind is a win for the region.

The developer has already removed about 300 trees in the first 3kms of
Aarons Pass Road, in a length for which the PAC had given approval to
remove 6 trees. It has already started work on the site when under PAC
consent conditions it was not allowed to until Aarons Pass Road had
been
upgraded. The Planning department has now forced a halt to that work
and imposed a fine. Clearly the wind farm has no regard for consent
conditions. It should not be rewarded for bad behaviour by removing
the
consent conditions it does not like. The modification should be
rejected and the project should be monitored on a daily basis by the
Department to immediately stop any further breaches."

I believe the Aarons Pass Road will be a benefit to the Pyramul residents
as it will provide a safer road and provide better access to trucks as
well.

I fully support the modifications of the project.
As a regular user of the Aaron's pass road, I believe that the
upgrades to the road are long overdue and will be a great improvement
for the residents that live along the pass. Safety of the local
residence is of upmost importance and should take place sooner rather
than later.
As a landholder involved in the project I believe the economical boost
to the region, both Mudgee and Bathurst is a great aspect of the
project.
Many locals have already benefited with contracts in the construction
of the wind farm, and I am very concerned about the cease work order
given prior to Christmas, with no definite time frame when it may
continue.

I fully support the modifications of the project.
The safety of the residence and local users of the Aaron's pass are of
the highest priority. The upgrade to the road will be a great benefit
and is long overdue.
The economical boost the project will bring to both Mudgee and
Bathurst is a great benefit to the region.

The developer claims to be seeking approval to reduce the number of
turbines from 77 to 37. Under the original consent it could build the
lesser number if it wished to do so, without a modification required.
At best it would be an administrative modification.

However, the developer already has no legal right to build any more
than 37 turbines. The Federal Department of Environment imposed that
restriction in April 2017. Any environmental benefit from reducing the
number of turbines to 37 has already been imposed by the Federal
Government. It is not something that the developer has to offer as an
offset for different harm it wants to do to the environment.

The application is grossly misleading and is clearly meant as a fig
leaf to cover the developer's wish to make other changes to the
project which it wants approved on the grounds that it will forego
certain environmental harm which the Federal Government has already
prohibited.

The application should be rejected.

This modification must not be approved. The applicant initiated
significant removal of trees along Aarons Pass Road in complete breach
of the original PAC approved application and only ceased when the
Department of Planning forced them to stop after locals had raised the
alarm. This modification now seeks to retrospectively obtain approval
for their actions and other work to date which is in breach of the
original PAC approval.

The original PAC project approval was provided for a reason, and this
applicant/developer has shown scant regard for the PAC and
Department's approval conditions. The lodgement of this modification
is a clear admission that the applicant failed to comply with the
original approval. Therefore this modification must not be approved,
in fact compliance and penalty actions should be taken against the
applicant/developer for their clear breach, and they must then be
forced to comply with the original PAC approved plan.

Modification Objection (CREPG)

The Crudine Ridge Environment Protection Group (CREPG) objects to the
modification application issued by CWP for the CRWF on the following
grounds:

(A) WTG Reduction of numbers

1. Turbine characteristics will alter due to increased blade length
* visually
No montages, wire frames, blade flicker presented to indicate expected
changes
* environmentally
Lower blade tip down to mid /upper tree canopy height, increased blade
tip speed in increased blade area zone
* noise/health
Low Frequency noise, infrasound, changed tonal characteristics due to
significant blade change

2. Economic viability of the project has to be questioned when
considered relative to the "must have" model presented and assessed by
the PAC. Public money (CEFC) is now involved in this project

3. No consideration has been given to water requirements as a result
of changes in the project.

4. Concerns that the developer continues to use the same consultants
as for the original EA and PPR. The quality of various aspects of the
work of those consultants was questioned and considered to be
inadequately addressed or not at all

5. As a result of the changes proposed the project no longer adheres
to the consent condition 2.2 "generally in accordance with the EA
..... " and has not been dealt with when brought to the Secretary's
attention

6. Other issues relating to the project including the suitability of
the noise officer to assess this application (if the same person who
assessed the original project)

B Aarons Pass Rd (APR)

1 CWP has been granted approval to use APR for OS/OM
vehicles/components . Consent conditions (App6) resulting from road
change requirements presented by the developer were accepted and
granted by PAC and confirmed by the DoE. As such there is no need for
any change.

2 The `argument' put forward that these intended massive earthworks
are needed to make APR "usable" and safe is spurious. Normal MWRC
maintenance is sufficient and more than adequate if carried out as per
App 6 .

3 The reliability of the ecological consultant (same as for the EA and
PPR) needs querying since two highly endangered flora species ( one
extending 1.5 km along both sides of APR) have gone unrecorded during
the extensive 2013 APR ecological survey and did not form part of the
assessment.