Winterbourne Wind Farm

Submission attached.

Having now had some contact with a local wind farm I am even more supportive of such projects than I was when, for me, it was just a theoretical idea.

I live near Sofala in the NSW Central Tablelands, 12 kilometres from the recently completed Crudine Ridge wind farm, and can see the turbines in the distance. Aesthetically they are pleasing to me, but in a practical sense it is reassuring that as each turbine spins it is providing clean energy to the grid.

With other local people I was invited by the developers on a tour of the completed wind farm and given a very comprehensive introduction to the construction of the turbines and the safety aspects of, not only the construction, but also the maintenance schedules. We were taken to one of the turbines and stood beneath it while it turned. Yes, there was a noise, but quite tolerable … and we were standing directly beneath the blades. I believe that some people imagine the noise to be intolerable but that is untrue and a false argument

As a contract weed sprayer last week I was working on a property adjoining the Crudine wind farm and directly below a turbine, some 200 metres away and above me. I was hardly aware that the blades were spinning except when I looked up.

It should be obvious that the days of fossil fuels are ending; the current reality is that renewable energy is the future. The contribution such wind farms can make to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and battling climate change is immense and should be supported.

A further reason for local people to support this project is the community development funds that will be provided by the project - and here I am assuming that similar conditions will prevail in Walcha as they have here in the Bathurst Regional Council area. Our local Progress Association has been granted $40,000 from the wind farm funds for re-roofing our old hall; we have already received $8,800 of these funds to pay a deposit with our contracted builder. Local councils are always strapped for funds and this assistance from a commercial and much needed development means that our "wish list" is not unrealistic.

The project will bring jobs and clean energy to Australia

Farmers for Climate Action thanks the Department of Planning and Environment for the opportunity to provide a submission to the exhibition of Winterbourne Wind Farm.

Farmers for Climate Action is a movement of farmers, agricultural leaders and rural Australians working to pressure Australia to adopt strong climate policies by growing the number of farmers, farming communities and elected representatives championing ambitious action. We represent 7,500 farmers across Australia, and our supporter base includes over 35,000 Australians committed to climate action for agriculture.

We are supportive, in principle, of the proposed development. We acknowledge the need for a rapid and orderly shift away from fossil fuel energy sources to renewables. This is already happening and New South Wales is currently seeing record investment in renewable energies. Projects like this one will support Australia NSW and Australia to be powered by clean energy and we believe it is vital these projects continue apace.

At the same time, we would like to ensure that farmers and farming communities benefit from the proposed development. Historically, energy regulations, policies and programs have not sufficiently engaged nor accounted for farmers or regional communities. Existing large-scale renewable energy developments have often been delivered without adequate consultation or benefit sharing with the farmers and regional communities affected.

We would like to see, with this project going ahead, world class consultation and engagement with the local community. There are so many benefits renewable energy projects bring to regional communities and an actively involved rural sector can see new diversity of income for farmers who host large-scale infrastructure, increasing resilience to seasonal variations. Energy generation facilities bring new jobs and throw an economic lifeline to regional towns, especially smaller towns that are seeing population decreases. Community funding must be provided from energy projects, and this makes a material contribution to the fabric of rural and regional towns.

We request that in considering this development the following two key principles be followed:

The new mechanism for improved benefit sharing arrangements for transmission hosts and communities, including higher annual payments to hosts, payments to impacted neighbours, and funding for community benefit programs is applied in this case.
That the development should have support available for farmers and communities with independent advice provided in the contract negotiation stage of the development.

If we act quickly, there are huge economic opportunities for farmers and regional Australians. Let’s not miss the opportunity to create secure, resilient jobs and livelihoods for farmers and regional Australians.

its a great idea i don't know why people are against it.

I would like to submit that I strongly object to the development of Winterbourne Wind or any further wind turbine development flagged for the Walcha Shire.

The proposed development will destroy our pristine landscape, devalue highly productive agricultural land, divide a very strong community (which is already happening) turning landholders against each other. This is only the tip of the iceberg, with many other concerns that I will raise.

The underhandedness of Winterbourne in signing landholders up to the scheme by providing cash incentives well before the landholders were able to read the EIS submission from Winterbourne and be properly informed before agreeing to their terms is quite frankly collusion.

I understand that the government is under pressure to find a solution to our energy crisis with the dismantling of fossil fuels, but the fall out of such Wind Turbine projects being established in prime agricultural land is baffling, not only from the obvious negative environmental impacts on the landscape and to our fauna, but the negative social and health implications that will ensue. Who will be responsible to take the blame when future litigation occurs from neighbouring properties or the community who have been negatively impacted due to noise, or health implications to either themselves or the health of their livestock?

There is increasing research which indicates REAL negative health implications. There is environmental noise and vibration, electromagnetic radiation from the transformer substations and power lines, infrasound low frequency resulting in sleep deprivation and disturbance, poor air quality from the movement of hundreds of trucks in the construction phase and their fumes and omissions. One of the most disturbing is the toxic BPA resin used to coat the wind blades which will naturally decay over time and seep into our waterways and contaminate our food chain. If levels of BPA are found in our lamb or beef, there goes the most important industry to this area.

Where does all the water come from to construct the monolithic footings of the turbines? Water is one of our most precious resources, which we are all too familiar with in recent drought years.

Who will be responsible for the decommissioning of these turbines once their life has run out? And where do they go? Or will Walcha end up being a wind turbine graveyard like so many other locations around the world. Wind turbines may be a short-term solution for so called ‘clean energy’ (I’m not convinced that they are clean given the number of resources required to construct them), however the environmental ramifications for our children who will be in charge of cleaning up an industrial wasteland will be a far greater problem to the short-term gain.

Our right as local residence to expect access to medical and emergency services will be impeded by the amount of traffic during the construction phase and consequent damage to roads. It already takes an hour to reach specialist medical services in Tamworth, how much longer with travel time be? Will there be blocked roads, particularly along the Oxley Highway when these huge trucks are hauling these turbines and blocking both sides of the road?

I am very concerned that if we have a bushfire in these wind turbine areas, there will be no assistance of fire-bombing because of no-fly zones and safety concerns for the pilots. This would also impact noxious week aerial spraying and day to day spreading of fertiliser for agricultural purposes.

I am not on a neighbouring property to where these turbine farms are flagged, but I feel for all the farmers who are neighbours to these properties. They will be severely impacted negatively not only from an environmental and health standpoint, but they will receive no monetary gain and only devaluation of their land, for whom many have farmed in this area for generations. No one in their right mind would want to buy a farm neighbouring a wind farm. The social fallout between neighbours who are for and against is real and is impacting on people’s metal health. I can only imagine the increased friction that will ensue if these developments go ahead.

There are many other clean energy resources that the government can be focusing on rather than windfarms. The thought of our beautiful rural environment being destroyed, and the loss of community cohesiveness is beyond devastating.

I object to the Winterbourne Wind Project for the following reasons
There are much more efficient forms of green energy that do not have such a large carbon footprint in their construction, transport and erection. In addition they have a limited lifespan and their non renewable parts need to be deconstructed after only 23-25 years of use at high cost to our community which has not been taken into account.
Less than 6% of the country is suitable for food production and Walcha is a vital part of that and our nation’s food security. For every wind turbine over 800 cubic metres of concrete cover the grass and the soil taking valuable grazing land. In addition many trees have to be cleared to make pathways for them plus kilometres of gravel roads causing soil erosion. Instead of wind turbines we should be growing grass and trees in those areas and using that grass for two vital purposes;

• to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and bury it deep in the soil and
• to upgrade it to the most nutrient dense form of protein in the world – beef.
Well managed grazing systems use regenerative practises of heavy grazing and rest to maximise photosynthesis of the plants and speed up the rate at which carbon dioxide is taken from the atmosphere (where it is a GHG) and is sequestered into the soil. In the soil the extra carbon increases nutrient uptake of plants, water holding ability and improves soil structure all of which mitigate the effects of climate change and improve farmer productivity which in time should future-proof food security. Grass is the most abundant form of plant on earth but sadly can’t be eaten by humans, but ruminants help us to both use it as a tool to sequester carbon and also to upgrade its nutrient value into beef.
It is unfair that a region that should be focussed on long term food security is bearing the political costs of the public good that wind farms are purported to generate. In the Teal Independent suburbs less than 30% of their constituents have solar panels on their roof. Why should Walcha have to pay the costs of climate change for a voter base who “talk the talk” but don’t walk the walk? Walcha may be their back yard they don’t care about but it is my home and it’s not fair or right.
After recently attending a Company Directors Course in Sydney I asked my city counterparts (many of whom I found had waterfront homes) why we couldn’t have wind towers off the coast? They explained that it would ruin their view and devalue their houses and so I asked them why it would be different for people in rural and regional area who invested in land there? The answer is that it isn’t.
It is unfair that the minority in our Walcha community who will financially benefit from the wind farms and support them feel it is their right to devalue their neighbours’ farms and our communities’ tourism value. Instead Walcha should maximise its competitive and environmental advantage as a pristine environment for the purposes of Tourism , National Parks and Grazing, not as an industrial REZ zone.
We personally have rejected wind farms in our area because we are going to do our bit for the environment in aiming to produce carbon neutral beef. We also care about our neighbours and asked their opinions and universally they felt that the Windfarms would devalue their land, kill birdlife and make them unhappy and we respect that.
As a Board Member of Rural Aid, Australia’s most trusted rural charity I know how critical mental health is in the bush and that farmer’s rates of suicide are 4 times the national average. The increased level of angst and depression these issues are causing in our rural communities is real. This is not only for the people who feel that their financial and quality of life has been threatened but for all parties involved in disputes, disagreements and isolation from their neighbours who they once classed as friends.
We also care very much for our wildlife and particularly our birdlife such as wedge tail eagles and peregrine falcons that catch the natural updrafts off our mountains. Windfarms will decimate these populations.
Having lived through the fires of 2019 when we had a property at Yarrowitch surrounded by the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park we are also concerned of the increased bush fire risk posed by wind towers and subsequent power lines needed to support them as evidenced in the Taralga Region of NSW –(Class Action Infragen Energy 2017). Given the last fire we faced at Yarrowitch came from the gorge bordering Winterbourne’s eastern edge we feel it is leveraging the risk of fire in that area and placing farms, wildlife and wilderness in unnecessary danger. In the last fire 45,000 hectares were burned around us with one man losing his life, 6 houses, and countless wildlife we saw killed including endangered Eastern Rock Wallabies, grey kangaroo’s, koalas, echidna’s, lyrebirds, red belly black snakes, tiger snakes, eastern brown snakes (all protected snake species), skinks, blue tongue lizards and more.
Walcha will bear undue burdens for the privilege of green energy for suburban areas. Some of this can be measured in terms of the degradation of our already broken road systems but there are many costs which are difficult to quantify such as mental health and the increased risk of motor vehicle accidents from the deteriorated roads and frustration from increased traffic and delays. Then there is a community divided, neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother. This isn’t about the environment, there are plenty of other more viable green alternatives, it’s about big business and greed and we in rural and regional areas don’t deserve to be treated this way.
Australia has a natural abundance of coal, natural gas and uranium and we used to enjoy some of the lowest energy costs in the world which drove manufacturing, and exports. It now appears we have a ludicrous situation developing that would be akin to subsiding petrol in Kuwait, or ice to Greenland. While I would like to see fossil fuels sensibly phased out due to CO2 and methane emissions I can’t see why we are not investing in the safe use of Uranium like many other forward thinking countries in the world that we export to. Or very simply why can’t we put more solar panels on houses across the country? ....Oh that’s right.... because it might ruin the look and devalue them.
Surely it’s not too much to ask for a rational solution apart from Windfarms that will preserve rural and regional communities who already bear most of the cost of climate change.
Erica Halliday
Ben Nevis Angus
Chairman Angus Australia
Board Member Rural Aid

This project looks well-conceived and absolutely critical to the transition to a sustainable and low-emissions grid.
It provides substantial benefit to local communities, as well as those across the state and the broader energy sector.

I support this project because it is beneficial for our current society. We need more than ever renewable energies for present and future generations. We are seeing that climate change is doing several damages in our world, and we can solve this problem by doing this type of wind farms. I do believe that it is crucial to stop the emission that we are producing over our atmosphere, so building this type of wind farm is one of the solutions.

I work in the renewable energy sector, largely installing solar and battery systems for residential and small business customers. Large scale wind farm developments like Winterbourne are critical to our net zero state targets and and essential in the transition away from coal fire generation. I believe there is no perfect solution in our quest to decarbonise the atmosphere, however wind is a valuable and safe asset that needs to be developed across the state. I support this project and we need to accelerate this and other similar projects across the state to meet our net zero goals.

I believe this project will greatly benefit the Walcha community as well as the environment as a whole and is a necessary step towards the changes that need to be made to develop a more sustainable energy production industry in Australia.

It is our responsibility to help reduce climate change and preserve our planet