Winterbourne Wind Farm

As per the user request submitting this submission.

Planning authorities have determined that instead of implementing a bond system for the eventual decommissioning and site rehabilitation of renewable energy projects, they will rely on guarantees given by the project developers. Unless the government is prepared to underwrite these guarantees, it is acknowledging that the validity of these guarantees is questionable. As such, these projects must not be approved.

I fiercely OBJECT to this Wind Farm.
No CONSULTATION - KEPT IN THE DARK
I own land next door to one proposed site and were not informed, months later I found out.
I have an AGREEMENT with BIODIVERSITY in perpetuity as we need to preserve our environment.
All transport of the proposed wind turbines will be destructive to our country roads, delays and frustrations to travelers and local farmers going about their business of providing food and services causing more habitat removal and total disrepair.
800 tons of concrete holding each of the 119 towers will cause astronomical damage to the very fragile gorge country.
Towers being produced overseas and using non recyclable materials add more cost to dismantle and dispose of after such a short time.
Each Blade deteriorating or sloughing off 64kgs annually into our atmosphere, water and soil. That is 64kgs x119 turbines x25 years = 190.400 tons of BPA and fibreglass into the country.
Noise levels have not been adequately monitored as the gorges land is the habitat of many ENDANGERED species including koala,gliders, quolls and their hearing cannot be determined and the effect on their well being cannot be forcasted.
Eagles and other raptors use the wing to navigate the gorge country and these turbines are at a height that will intefer with their soaring and hovering.
THIS PROJECT NEEDS TO BE THOROUGHLY SCAPED AS NOT ENOUGH RESEARCH INTO THE DETRIMENT OF THE PEOPLE, COMMUNITY, OUR VERY PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE FAUNA AND FLORA.

- Climate change is happening faster than we know therefore action needs to be taken as soon as possible and this project is a step towards that direction
- By creating more clean and renewable energy, it will help to improve our environmental footprint and help us move away from the reliance of fossil fuels which damages the planet
- Wind energy is cheaper to produce hence saving cost in the long run

As a partner in a grazing operation near Walcha, we have major concerns over the Winterbourne Wind Project and the EIS submission.
This error ridden EIS has raised multiple concerns for our organisation.
Firstly, we rely on contract workers and availability of workers at different times. This generally is driven from an interest of young people moving to the area for the community or sporting opportunities. The impact on this community will be great due to the visual impact, noise and health, making it not the desirable place to live as it now stands, hence reducing casual and contract workers in the area.
The road works during the construction has been underrated and will have major impacts on our ability to truck and move stock around the area. As we have 2 properties, we frequently move between the two farms. The impact on trucks and vehicles will have a huge impact on our day to day running and then the wear and tear on the roads will have a greater economic impact on our vehicle maintenance and repair.
The water source is also a concern, and I feel this has not been addressed with depth.
The ecological impact will obviously have a huge impact not only on the short term runnings of our business but also the long-term running of the farm.
The visual impact is also of a great concern and decommissioning of these turbines for the next generation. What are we leaving our children?

I am a land holder, wife and mother of three young children. I am committed to leaving this land in a better condition for the benfit of the next generations. I object to this project for the following reasons and concerns drawn from the EIS:
Poor consultation processes. I feel that the flow of information to the community has been selective and not sufficient for the enormity of the project and impact of the environment and community.
The high ecological and biodiversity impact. We live on the edge of a world heritage forest, to construct these enormous turbines within such close proximity will obviously have huge impacts on wildlife corridors, ability to fight fires, impact on water courses, loss of habitat for several endangered species and other species and bird strike of wedge tail eagles that are found in the area.
My biggest concern however is the increased cumulative impact. The size of this project is large, the turbines are some of the largest in Australia, consider that with the numerous other solar and wind turbines in the area and I am now raising my family and working in an environment that has major impact on health, water, roads, ecology and biodiversity.

I object to this project going ahead as it will effect my everyday life, my future and my families every day life and my families future as we are residents of the Walcha area. There has been little, truthful communication from Vestas, the proposed construction company.

Our daily life will be interrupted with the amount of traffic that is going to have to flow through our area to get the project built. It will affect our commutes to swimming lessons in Armidale, our swimming lessons in Tamworth, our soccer games in Armidale, our soccer training in Walcha, our daily commute to the local walcha primary school and the local preschool. The cause and effect of the delay to our road networks, I’m worried in turn will effect the price of our groceries in town to rise majorly as suppliers are going to have to take longer route or miss deliveries all together.

The state of disrepair that this increased level of traffic will cause to our roads. Increased road works until he area again leading to distrusted commutes to and from education facilities, effecting our children's education!!! Effecting our children’s social and sporting prospects. This puts our regional children who are already disadvantaged even further behind compared to their city counterparts.

The road issues continue. We live on a gravel road and after complaining to the council about the state of our road during 2022 winter, they informed me they were having trouble getting gravel to fix any of our roads. Vestas has proposed to be using local gravel sources to aid their construction- this will lead to our roads being neglected even more! During 2022 our road was extremely dangerous due to the lack of gravel and when ever it rained there were a few spots that very nearly caused accidents and single car crashes. Will there finally be a fatality due to lack of maintenance during the construction period of Winterbourne Wind? I surely hope not but it’s a strong possibility especially because my family and I have no other options in travel directions when taking our kids to school and preschool and their extra curricular activities. Crash or miss out on an education? Is that what Vestas wants us to chose between for our children?

The issue of safety of our roads continues, the proposed travel routes for the construction time period are busy, windy and narrow roads and that’s before they even arrive to the dirt back roads of our communities! Fatalities on our roads are sure to rise during the construction period as people try to go about their normal lives as much as possible. Again, do Vestas think we should choose between our safety or our children's education?

I object to this project also on the grounds for concern of the longevity of our town and community. So much of our community is built from family farms. We are a farming family business, this is how our past generations have made their living and how we make our living and how hopefully our future generations will be able to make their living. The un know outcome of the effect on land values with turbines or around turbines is already greatly effecting the future of farming in our community. If they lead to land values rising, how do farms get passed into next generations with the occupants being able to successfully pay out the inheritance to their siblings. My concern is this will lead to more family land sales to large corporations buying up land, forcing small businesses out.

On the other side of the coin, what if the proposed wind turbines lower the land prices in our area? Equalities fall and businesses fail. Our family business will have to cease its operations. Will this lead to more forced sales to large corporations?

This project directly effects me as a visual aspect. We live in the most beautiful part of NSW. I choose to come home to my area to raise my family because if it’s beauty. I hope one day my children will want to carry on farming and choose to live in this beautiful part of the world. But with 250m wind turbines everywhere you look, will it still be beautiful? No! Who would choose to live in such a industrialised area? Not me if I was the one choosing to start my career here and start my family. Walcha has such a vibrant family life style and I’m concerned that this project will directly impact our community life style of friends ships for myself and my children as they grow into young adults.

I’m against this project as it is effecting my relationships with my friendships. I can see how Vestas and Walcha wind has taken advantage of their financial situations coming out of droughts and provided financial encouragement to sign contracts without readying them. These contracts have lead to in wanted decisions on our fitness behalf’s that they have not intended on. This is a disgraceful example of manipulation from such a huge company for their own financial gain.

I am not against renewable s, but this project is too big and is in the wrong place to be of strategic benefit to NSW.

700 megawatts over 22000ha within 6km of town and against the national park is wrong.

The biodiversity that will be affected is too great. Tourism will be affected and every person in my community will be impacted in a large way.
There are far more appropriate sites and sizes around the new england.

I believe that the developer has made it hard to consider the impacts, socially, economically and environmentally of this project by providing false and misleading information. The biodiversity study in the eis was done in a drought coming out of the winter. As a local of 60 years i know that there are scores of eagles and raptors, bats, bees and other birds that need to be protected not destroyed. Paying a bio diversity offset fine is not the answer, put it where there is less impact on our environment.

The impact for farmers will be great. we know that aerial application of fertilizer and weed control will be affected. This will cost the district and the nation millions of dollars.
I am concerned about what the effects will be on land values and the impact on prime agricultural land. We are a small but prosperous agricultural and tourism community. Not an industrial energy producer. Wrong Place.

I am concerned about the amount of other projects proposed around Walcha, eg ruby hills, brakendale, woolbrook.

Please see attached file

I object to this development see attached submission please.

The EIS has completely under estimated the damage to our environment and I believe it will far out weigh the benefits claimed.
The damage to our wedge tail eagles (a threatened species) is irreversible.
The erosion caused by run off from new roads and their construction will be profound and irreversible.
The clearing of ridge land vegetation which is core to this project is contrary to all principles of Land Care.
Our family have been avid Land Carers our whole lives planting thousands of native trees not bulldozing them down.
The Walcha Community does not have enough
Water or gravel to support this monstrous project.
Furthermore, if this project is approved it will open the door to an avalanche of wind projects up to 750 turbines (projected).
The damage this project is going to create is irreversible. A better source of renewable energy needs to be pursued. Roof top solar is available on land that is already fully utilised.

After listening to both sides of the argument for and against. I am not sure that this proposal is in the best interest of Walcha and my own business. The information supplied EIS and the company proposing the project, seem to be very lacking in clarity and answers to some very basic questions. There doesn't seem to be clarity on the effect it will have on running my business efficiently during the construction stage. This will have a major effect on traffic flow without any answer to what will be done to control these issues. Who will pay for the damage and construction of the roads?
The earthworks that will be put in to creating the pads for the wind turbines, drainage, habitat flora and Fauna that could be damaged on or near our national parks now and into the future.
There is also no information on the life span and who is to dismantle and dispose of waste from the towers at the end of their working life.
If this project gets approval, how many other areas will be proposed that will continue to affect our Business and personal life's.
While i am not against renewable energy. If they can't address these basic questions? I believe this is the wrong company for Walcha and the wrong area for this project.

Regards

Peter Berry

I am not directly impacted by this project per se, but in the past, I have had experience with a small NSW community (Taralga) where a windfarm was proposed nearby. I have very good friends living there and I witnessed first-hand how a handful of local residents, heavily influenced by the and anti-wind farm lobby hangers-on, used scare-mongering and baseless claims to distress the local community, particularly older and more vulnerable residents, along with using intimidation tactics and boycott threats to local businesses, to try and sway opinions and block the development from going ahead. This was from about 2006 to 2010 when not as much substantiated information was available to be able to refute some of the outrageous and baseless claims being made by the anti-wind lobby. It was incredibly stressful for locals, some of whom supported the project, but they were too afraid to speak out for fear of recrimination. Eventually the project proceeded, despite a Land and Environment Court challenge, and with the exception of disruption to the local TV reception (which was marginal at best, pre-the project), when the turbines were commissioned, the community of Taralga is today thriving and has become a key stop-over for visitors and a destination for holding events such as country weddings. The direct economic benefits, local employment and community project support the wind farm has delivered, has helped to carry the town through the drought The turbines are happily working away, generating clean renewable energy and the towers/turbines are rarely mentioned in town.
Walcha is a bigger township in population, but on a recent visit I became aware the scenario is much the same. The town has become divided, with myths and lies being propagated by the anti-wind farm lobby through a handful of locals who say they are against the project, but when you question their reasoning, it seems it is mostly based on the fact that they personally, just don't like change. Chatting with a number of the local business operators about the project, the majority agreed they can see the economic and social benefits that could be derived from Winterbourne Wind Farm, and a few expressed that they wished their opinion could be equally heard and valued, but because it IS a small community, they are reticent to speak out in support of the project as they feel bullied and intimidated to keep quiet. They feel they are a minority voice and if they do speak up, they genuinely believe they are at risk of recrimination, either personally and/or against their businesses. As I walked around, I took note that there are a lot of vacant business premises in the town. As happened in Taralga, I can see the wind farm bringing, not just a construction and contractor workforce to the area, but opportunities for a variety of new business and service offerings that would also contribute directly to the economy of the town, and this economic boost could re-enliven this lovely township of Walcha and secure and enhance its future. Additionally, there's the added benefit that the wind farm's community benefit fund could deliver to support community projects in the town, as an example, it was mentioned the local public pool needs a new filtration system. I therefore support approval of the project, based on the environmental benefits from the renewable energy the project would generate, and importantly - the economic and social benefits it can bring to the Walcha community.

Large scale wind farms the size of this proposal are a blight on the landscape. The impacts to the surrounding neighbors, community and environment is incredible. The engagement by the proponents is absurd and corrupt. The lies, deceit and misconception of the impacts is unfounded. This is prime agricultural grazing land - not a place for industrial power factories. Not to mention the close proximity to some of the worlds most unique and pristine national parks.

The Winterbourne Wind Farm project will provide strong social, economic and environmental benefits to the local Walcha community and the Region.

Over the past few years, the Walcha township has gradually declined in vitality with a reduced variety of shops, products and business services now available to the community. This project will provide the region with a rejuvenated, long term funding stream to local landholders, contractors, and suppliers for the operational life of the project. Host landholders will be paid rental for supporting the project infrastructure. Local contractors will have access to work packages through the project contracting structure. These funds will ultimately improve the vitality of the township and add new business opportunities, which will flow over into other community benefits such as increased numbers of new families, upskilling and educational opportunities, new job opportunities as well as increased school places. Further, this project may encourage new forms of tourism, diversified business sector activation and local revitalisation. The contribution of the project to the local community fund will provide funding to enhance local sporting sponsorship opportunities, infrastructure upgrades and assistance to struggling local service organisations.

The project will provide a long term source of clean inexpensive renewable energy which will ultimately replace polluting fossil fuel derived power. Given the demand for new generation, and high power prices, this project will greatly assist the state requirement for new renewable energy power price reduction. The project is well located within the New England Renewable Energy Zone, which has ample wind resource, strong grid connection capacity, supportive landholders and community stakeholders.

This project should be strongly supported by the NSW Government to bring social, economic and environmental benefits to the Walcha region and its community.

I object to the project as detailed in the attached submission.

I support the Winterbourne Wind Farm Environmental Impact Statement, as it was prepared in accordance with schedule 2 of the Environmental Planning Regulation 2021, and it contained all the available information relevant to the environmental assessment of the development to which the EIS relates. There has been a lot of misinformation disseminated by a group called 'Voice for Walcha' and their campaign has included personal attacks on local community members who in favour of the Winterbourne Wind Farm proposal. As a result the local community has felt intimidated and sometimes bullied so they have not expressed their views if they in favour of the project. For example the Voice for Walcha produced a survey which it sent out to the community, but in that survey respondents had to put their name and address. I am aware that local community felt intimidated to express any opposition as others had been contacted and intimidated for their view in favour of the Wind Farm project.
It is important that Australia and the World move away from the carbon era, and embrace renewable energy industries to help reduce the disastrous effects of climate change, which we have started to experience. Walcha, being part of the New England Renewable Energy Zone identified by the NSW government must play its role in developing the renewable energy sector. It is accepted that there will be challenges for Walcha, and there will be disruption during the construction phase, but it is vital that Walcha 'punches above its weight' in providing wind, solar and hydro electricity to help NSW with its electricity needs in the future. As a result Walcha will benefit from the introduction of a new industry, and diversify its industry base. I believe that it will be a win-win for all concerned and I urge the Government to continue its commitment to introducing State Significant Developments in NSW to bring about the changes required to move from fossil fuels into renewable energy.

I am am hoping the NSW approves this wind project that will create jobs, help NSW. meet is 2030 emission targets and provide passive income to rural property owners.

Reasons are:
Too close to the town of Walcha.
Too close to the National Park. The high risk of killing endangered species of wildlife.
Increased Traffic on local roads.
Damage and Maintenance of roads.
Noise level of the wind turbines.
Water required for the construction of the wind turbines.
Size of the Wind Farm

I object to the project. Attached are my objections.