Paling Yards Wind Farm

I object to the paling yards wind farm, as a local I am concerned about the amount of truck movements on our local roads which are already not capable of holding up to the traffic that is already running

Wind Farms of any size are not the answer to Australia’s clean energy issues. Wind farms are inefficient, use massive amounts of energy to produce, cannot be disposed of with integrity, impact detrimentally on health, visual blight, and house prices. There are much better solutions which the Council can influence by rejecting wind farm applications.

Against the ideas of wind farms

I object to this project on the following grounds:
The proposed wind farm will be destructive to the rural environment in the area that it is to be located. Both the wildlife and the native vegetation in the area face destruction by building this windfarm.
The local roads will be permanently damaged by the large number of oversize and over weight vehicles that will use them to transport materials to the site. Local ratepayers and councils will be left to contend with damaged roads.
Local traffic will be severely disrupted by these vehicles using the road.
This and other proposed wind farms in the Oberon area will have a huge negative impact on the residents of area by destroying the landscape and creating excessive noise pollution.

Contamination to waterways, soil profiles and waste management arising from wind turbine blades containing high levels of BPA or any of the bisphenols group is acknowledged worldwide as a ticking time-bomb.
As the leading edges of the blades erode, a fine dust of BPA (an endocrine disruptor aknowledged by WHO) is shed into the air. This toxic chemical is slowly but surely working its way up the food chain and is finishing up on our dinner tables.
Although undetermined, presently the DPE, EPA and presumably most LGA's consider that they are absolved from any responsibility regarding contamination caused or waste management arising from wind turbine blades. Given this is the case, then who is in fact responsible.
Until such time as this conundrum has been resolved and an environmentally acceptable plan is legislated, I call on the NSW government to apply the 'Precautionary Principal' and initiate a moratorium on all industrial wind farm applications.

Hi there. After reading about these gifted tree in honour of our men and women that have served our country. My concern is the trimming of these trees or worst maybe removed completely. My Question is after the life span of these wind turbines which is 20 to 25 year are we having to do this all over again destroying our trees . I have no problem with going ahead with this project but not at the expense of losing these trees and repeating it again in 20 years time. It’s bad enough that they kill bird life that are migrating and bats as well . So much care have gone maintaining these trees. Find another way .

I am not opposed to the GPGA wind farm, but I am extremely concerned about the damage the company is going to inflict upon the ANZAC Memorial Avenue in O’Connell in transporting the blades on that road. The Desert Ash trees that line the road at O’Connell, creating a cathedral effect, are of great significance at a state and national level. The Memorial Avenue is listed on the NSW War Memorial Register. Everyone one knows they cannot be replaced or repaired once damaged, so let’s look at an alternative solution to the transportation problem.
Heavy lifting helicopters are used throughout Canada, the US, and Europe to decrease costs, increase time efficiency, and allay many of the challenges facing wind turbine construction on land. If GPGA is unable to obtain a heavy lifting helicopter in Australia, some companies, such as Doruk Air in Turkey, offer a worldwide service.
The wind turbines will help in our fight against climate change, but their construction should not be at the cost of significant trees. These Desert Ash trees are not only a living memorial, but are vital for the sequestration of carbon. They were planted in 1925 and 1927, and GPGA cannot offset 96 years of growth.

I own the O'Connell Hotel. THIS HOTEL REOPENED EARLIER THIS MONTH AFTER BEING CLOSED FOR CLOSE ON TWO YEARS.
In the proposal there are plans for trucks to stop/park in front of the hotel on their way south. This CANNOT HAPPEN for the following reasons
.The hotel car park is in front of the hotel.This car park is used daily and on most days there are 50+ CARS PARKED THERE AT VARIOUS TIMES OF THE DAY
.The school bus from Oberon/Bathurst stops here morning and afternoon and is a collection point
.the hotel acts as a defacto community centre with various groups meeting there on a daily basis
IN SUMMARY THE HOTEL SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A STOPPING PLACE FOR ANY TRANSPORT ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT
.

I wish to lodge an objection against the construction of the project known as “Paling Yards Wind Farm” on the following grounds:

This renewable energy project is not in the documented NSW Renewable Energy Zone and therefore should not go ahead'


• The damage that the transportation of the wind turbine components will do to the O’Connell Avenue of Trees.
In the 1925 – 1927 period, residents of O’Connell planted 120 Desert Ash trees as a WW1 Memorial. It is one of the few living memorials in Australia. These trees serve as evidence of O’Connell community’s gratitude and appreciation for the men and women who served our country in time of war. The trees are treasured and cared for by our local residents with occasional assistance by way of grants from the NSW Government.see
www.monumentaustralia.org.au)

To cause damage to these trees would be seen as desecration of a memorial. The transportation of the blades for these turbines will cause major damage to said trees.
• The adverse impact of additional traffic, particularly the over-size – over-mass vehicles.

There has been no consultation with residents and business owners along the O’Connell Rd route about the enormous disruptions they will face for almost two years and nearly 600 movements of the “OSOM” vehicles.
With O’Connell Rd being the only road directly linking Bathurst and Oberon, any locals, businesses and tourists will face immeasurable delays. Alternative routes would mean going out of their way with great additional travel time and (in these times of high fuel prices) expense.
it appears that in the quest for profit by (foreign) businesses and the Government’s panic for renewable energy the rights and needs of the individual do not matter or are ignored.
General consensus is that we do not want this project to progress. It will cause more hurt and destruction and no benefit Other than to foreign investors.

Wind turbines pit farmer against farmer, neighbour against neighbour. The energy is dilute and discontinuous. It is a fraud on society, on humanity. That the millions of dollars would be repaid in the life of these monstrosities is impossible. I have been affected by the electromagnetic fields these turbines cause. Anyone living nearby or downwind will suffer. Birds' inbuilt gyroscopes are affected too, so fatalities will occur.

This proposal is idiotic.

I wish to provide my objection to the "Paling Yards Wind Farm" using O'Connell Avenue for the full transportation of wind turbine/materials via very large over-size, over-mass transport vehicles and as such, the planned destruction of the "Memorial Avenue of Trees" (consisting of many mature aged and healthy Desert Ash trees), for this purpose of the wind farm.
O'Connell Avenue is one of the few living Memorial Avenue of Trees left and planted nearly 100 years ago (1925-1927 period) for WW1 remembrance of the fallen soldiers and including those that came from the O'Connell area (66 sent to war and 12 lost their lives as a direct result locally).
This Avenue of Trees is now under direct threat via the trimming/cutting/removal planned to accommodate the large over-sized transport trucks during this 2 year construction time for the Paling Yards Wind Farm.
The community here is outstanding and care for our past and present community members together, which includes the gratitude to the trees with the solemn loss of community members all those years ago. Because it is so long ago, complacency is unfortunately one of the threats that these living memorials face as they seem to be easily expended in preference to technology and needs, further to the historic time when they were planned, planted and grown. To lose these trees would be culturally devastating and likened to digging up their grave sites, in my opinion. Please see www.monumentaustralia.org.au for further information.
The Desert Ash trees (via original seed sourced from Greece) were grown to commemorate those fallen and the tree type was chosen to form a "guard of honour" shape along the Avenue, with the tree canopy planned to be grown and closed over the O'Connell Road at the crown, forming the botanical arch for the "guard/cathedral" shape,as if a church. Therefore, any cutting back and removal will destroy these trees and their intended memorial purpose overall.
The "Village" road is smaller - i.e. two lane (one directional either way) and these transport trucks will be across the Village road, gutter to gutter in width and the height of the trucks being far too tall for the Desert Ash tree canopy to stay insitu, so therefore would be destroyed for the trucks constant ingress/egress through the Village area.
The settlement of O'Connell including the tree-lined road was registered as an "Urban Conservation Area of the NSW National Trust List" on 3rd June 1978. These trees have had proper arborist care and with some Government grant monies to do so and local community care for their existence of approximately more than 95 years so far. This is to ensure the WW1 living memorial stays healthy and provides their descendent families some of whom still reside here, with community pride and gratitude for their personal sacrifices made. With all factors now known to me during this objection period, I reiterate my strong objection to any physical disturbance of a living heritage Memorial, first opened by Lord Allenby. Trove has the newspaper report of the opening day on the Avenue with attendees and Lord Allenby, which is a very historic moment.
I am also disappointed regarding the non-consultation to my household personally as a direct resident living along O'Connell Road within the Village portion. We will be directly affected by huge traffic movements, noise (day and night), road congestion etc. My home in this beautiful, rural, historic setting within the O'Connell Valley itself , is an absolute pleasure to live in presently and without suffering at the mercy of the industrial movements of huge sized trucking companies for the purpose of this construction. Our mental health is very important and the stresses that this 2 year construction time and traffic movements will cause to our family directly, will be personally devastating. As I have been informed there will be no time curfew so our sleep/rest time will be disrupted around the clock, which is very concerning also.
My daughter also runs a Council approved business trailer from our front gate and will also be directly impacted each week during this construction time for approximately 2 years, as customers will not be able to stop easily nor park their vehicles as they do now, to gain easy access to her food trailer. They will seek other routes for access to the road toward Oberon/Bathurst to try to avoid the traffic chaos, which will in all honesty, cripple her very small business. I find this factor also a type of restriction of trade.
I am also concerned about the amount of traffic movements and inconvenience once this transport begins, due to any hold up exiting and entering my driveway directly onto the Avenue. We have a family of five (5) adults living here and each of us has to work, thus our lives will have to move around inconvenience of these transport trucks without said consultation or advice to this submission I make now.
O'Connell Road is integral to many local families/business owners who live and access their places of work to and from using this road system for Bathurst and Oberon transits. Local smaller roads will be further impacted with larger, frequent uses morning and night, with further traffic impacting and trying to cut any time off their travel and avoid the large truck route along O'Connell Road. This will cause local traffic chaos.
In closing, I feel that this development will bring much angst to the local community and residences all along the O'Connell Road with these trucks holding up current businesses, residences and safe road practices around a 2 year construction (24 hours a day). This is a huge ask of the community to put up with the devastation of their local environment within the O'Connell Village itself and definately for the planned destruction of the Village's Memorial Trees planted for WW1 (The Great War) remembrance.
Thank you.

I moved to oberon to escape towers and high rise building. Oberon is a pristine area which has a lot of bird life for example black cockatoo, grass parrots, red Rosella's, owls, Eagles this wind farm could kill them. The wind farms are ugly and will ruin the feel of a country town.

I object to this project. Not only will it negatively impact near roads and disrupt businesses for the 22 months of construction, but it will create enormous amounts of noise, disturbing the surrounding ecosystems. While I acknowledge that this change could be beneficial due to it creating sustainable energy, the impact of the noise on nearby habitats such as Kanangra-Boyd National park, which I regularly visit, is too great to ignore. Please stop this project.

I strongly object to this proposed wind farm. The impact on the environment will be devastating. It will devalue the area as far as tourism and also affect land prices. No one wants to live near a wind farm....

Firstly I would like to say, I am not against renewable energy. However I am against the 47 wind towers in and around the landscape of Oberon. Wind farms in my opinion should not be located in pristine bush land. People move to the quiet areas in the country to escape the city, not to have giant wind farms to generate electricity to cities.
Since wind farms have been built, studies have shown that the noise of the towers create disturbance to our wildlife, which is why they don’t build them in our oceans or coast line. Oberon LGA also has an abundance of Australian wildlife and we cannot afford to damage these species any more than we have already.
Choose a location where there is limited natural wildlife away from townships. Or choose another less damaging renewable resource to create energy. You might want to put your billions of dollars in helping scientists develop renewable sources of natural energy!

I think it is outrageous that you are willing to destroy the beautiful landscape and environment of this area. This not only effects the local communities but also the many visitors that come to our region to visit and experience this wonderful and beautiful location. The negative affect on the environment is a given. I think it is irresponsible to even consider such a project in this area when the purpose and goal to reduce emissions remains controversial and unproven.

If you really believe in this initiative the Government and City folk should lead by example and have wind farms built along the coast of Bondi and Eastern Suburbs.

How dare you even consider such a project!

Wind farms are an eyesaw. The height of these towers would be a major problem in the event of a bushfire.

I object to on the following grounds;
Damage to our rural roads, the impact on Oberon mount by digging the embankment where blue Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) have been seen nesting, the removal and trimming of trees along the OÇonnell road near the Oberon mount which has a significant Koala colony and this will impact them and their feeding.
Removal of any vegetation especially the blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa subspecies lasiophylla) which is the only food source for our highly endangered purple copper butterfly that frequents only select areas in Oberon and Bathurst especially the OÇonnell plains area.
Further impact to the transport sector around Oberon and Bathurst who rely on our road networks for freight transportation, as well as transport routes for all of us who use our road network to travel to and from work, there is no public transport in the area so residents rely on being able to use their cars frequently.
The disruption this will cause our communities for years, as 22 months is in hindsight a pipe dream, more like more than 10 years in transport movements, altering our lovely country roads, removing trees, causing massive disruption, stress and in the end for what? a benefit to an overseas company, this will not benefit any members of the community.
The Climate change argument is well past its use-by date, the climate will always change indefinitely as it has done for many millions of years and will continue to do so. These projects claim they are renewable, they are not. Only recently in September it was proven that roof top solar arrays had filled the grid to capacity and power generation companies had to pay an enormous fee to feed into the grid with most shutting off, so to think we need wind turbines eating up our views and disrupting lives is a fallacy.
I want my community to remain the quaint farming community it is, without huge monstrosities towering all over our countryside when it has no benefit whatsoever to anyone.
As the government continually approves these projects and treats our country like some kind of giant battery for overseas investors, you destroy our homes farms and landscapes for nothing more than higher electricity costs to consumers, NO we do not want these eyesores!!

Wind turbines will have detrimental effects on people, animals, and the environment on the Paling Yards and surrounding districts such as the following:
Noise Pollution: Wind turbines produce low-frequency noise and vibrations that will disturb nearby residents, leading to potential sleep disturbances, stress, and other health issues.
Shadow Flicker: The rotating blades will cast moving shadows that will cause visual discomfort or annoyance for those living near the turbines, potentially affecting their quality of life.
Bird and Bat Mortality: Wind turbines will pose a threat to our local birds and bats, leading to collisions that result in injury or death, particularly for species that are not easily able to detect or avoid the turbines.
Impact on Wildlife Habitats: The construction and operation of wind farms disrupt our local ecosystems, displacing or disturbing our wildlife and their habitats, potentially threatening vulnerable or endangered species. Please see attached EPBC Matters of National Significance report detailing that there are 2 listed threatened ecological communities, 46 listed threatened species and 11 listed migratory species in the Paling Yards area.
Electromagnetic Interference: Wind turbines generate electromagnetic interference that disrupts communication systems, including radio and television signals, potentially affecting the local community.
Land and Habitat Fragmentation: The installation of wind turbines requires significant land use, which can lead to fragmentation of natural habitats and ecosystems, impacting local flora and fauna.
Visual Impact: The appearance of wind turbines is visually unappealing, and their presence will alter the aesthetics of landscapes, impacting our tourism and property values in the surrounding area.
Impact on Airflow and Microclimate: Wind turbines alter local wind patterns, which will affect the microclimate and vegetation, potentially leading to changes in temperature, humidity, and precipitation patterns in the area.
Resource Consumption: The production, installation, and maintenance of wind turbines require substantial amounts of resources, including raw materials and energy, which can have an environmental impact during the manufacturing process.
Lifespan of Wind Turbines: Wind turbines typically have a lifespan of 20 to 25 years and there is no way to recycle their parts causing unnecessary waste product and landfill.
There are far more efficient ways than using wind turbines to create renewable energy that will not have these detrimental effects to our community, economy and environment. Please reconsider this flawed proposal. Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission.

The roads in the area are not in good condition for existing traffic. The increase in traffic for this project would be a significant safety issue for local and other traffic using the roads.