Winterbourne Wind Farm

I write this submission in full support of the Winterbourne Wind Project, including the project improvements documented in the amendment report. Is it evident the developer Vestas has seriously taken into consideration the concerns raised by the community and have addressed such to further minimise the project's environmental impact.

I do not believe that the responses to submissions completely or satisfactorily answers many of the issues raised by community and agency submissions. I am sure that upon reading the submissions to the original EIS, the responses and amendment reports, and the subsequent responses to these documents during the current exhibition, the experts at the department of planning will have more questions than answers.

It is painfully obvious that the developer has sought to paint a very rosy picture in regard to the amended project, and how they have reduced the project and solved so many problems that existed in the original version. The reduction in size is less than 1%, the movements of turbines minimal and the reasons given are nothing short of spin.

This is by no means and complete and exhaustive list, but, here are some of the problems that I have been able to identify
1) Roads and traffic – saying that by changing the traffic route for OSOM vehicles from the Oxley Hwy to Staces Road and Thunderbolts Way addresses the concerns around Oxley Hwy, is a totally contemptuous proposition. The issues around travel and emergency access are transferred to Thunderbolts Way, which is more widely and frequently used by residents of Walcha. There are also a significant number of students and workers who travel to Armidale each day. WWF has told members of the community that OSOM vehicles will travel at near posted speeds, this would need to be fact checked with Transport NSW.

2) VPA/Benefit Fund – Walcha council signed a VPA with the developer, with the belief that the construction period would be 3 years, once the VPA was signed the developer announces that the construction period will be closer to 5 years, and that after the initial payment on financial close, there will be no annual payments until the project is fully operational. This means that during the construction phase there will be no payments for the five years+ of maximum disruption. This is appalling. It would be good if planning could seek some conditions that did not disadvantage the community and Council during this period.

3) Visual Amenity/Near neighbours, the department needs to consider the interests of near neighbours and ensure that the project does not adversely impact them either from property value impacts or disruption of their right to undisturbed occupancy.

4) In my Original report I raised the issue of communication, I have had subsequent issues getting any clarification regarding what I consider to be false statements in regards to the projects support and opposition, made by the developer’s stakeholder engagement manager in the public arena, only to be told they could not discuss this due to privacy, and the employee responsible has completely ignored all attempts made to discuss this issue. The same narrative of poor consultation continues.

Environmental Benefits,Economic Growth,Sustainable Development,Technological Advancement and Resilience to Climate Change

I’m in support of the Winterbourne Wind Farm. It will be a great investment into our green future.

I am supporting the project because the development of the wind farm will have ongoing benefits for the local landholders and communities.

Renewable energy, especially wind power, can lead the way toward a sustainable, low-emission future. Wind energy harnesses the natural power of Australia’s expansive landscapes to generate clean, affordable electricity that reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. With significant investments in wind farms, Australia is not only meeting energy demands but also creating jobs and economic opportunities in regional areas. This commitment to renewable energy helps protect our environment, cuts emissions, and supports resilient local communities, making a greener, more sustainable future possible for all Australians. As a nation we need to take the blinkers off and move away from a ‘Not in My Backyard ‘ mindset .

Can’t see how it impacts the people on the other side of town

I am in support of this project as it will provide a number of significant opportunities to the local and wider population. This project will provide job opportunities, a community benefit fund to improve the infrastructure/facilities and desirability of the town, provide a cleaner/more affordable source of energy and contribute to Australias target of net zero by 2030.

I whole heartedly support this project. I have lived within the Walcha community my whole life and believe this project will be a great addition to the area and ensure Walcha's future survival. The reasons which I support this project are as follows.

Local jobs; jobs created during and after construction will directly benefit local small businesses.
Community benefit fund; An annual CBF of $750000 will undoubtedly improve local facilities and infrastructure, as well as advancing local organisations/clubs.
Clean energy; the Winterbourne Wind Farm will provide renewable energy to the grid contributing to the NSW 2030 emissions reduction targets.

For the sake of the environment and the survival of a small country town this project needs to be approved.

I wholly support this project. The Winterbourne Wind Project has taken on board comments in the original EIS and has made significant improvements to the proposed development in key areas such as transport routes, layout of the project and resources needed for the project.
There is a generous community benefit fund which has been agreed between Winterbourne Wind and local Councils, which will have an ongoing benefit to local communities well into the future. This project should be approved as soon as possible to ensure NSW transitions to renewables and Australia tries to reach climate targets.

I am in favour of this wind farm project.

Winterbourne Wind farm has NO social License to destroy the Walcha community and their environment.
Australia cannot survive as a productive nation on 82% renewables. This drive for renewables is a complete farce and Vestas are complicit in destroying the Australian economy .
Winterbourne Wind factory will have zero effect on the world climate in fact will have a negative impact because of the massive increase of mining , especially for rare minerals .
NET ZERO IS BULLSHIT. We need more Co2 in the atmosphere and the soil to actually HELP GREEN THE PLANET AND SUSTAIN BIODIVERSITY.
Who will be resonsible for the silent killer INFRASOUND.Your lawyers better be ready

I am in total support of this project. It is imperative to proceed to upgrade/implement new supplies of green energy for NSW.

In our submission to the Winterbourne Wind EIS back in early 2023, we focused on the misleading visuals used by the proponent in their public facing materials, and raised the issue that consistently, the proponent has never used imagery that accurately depicts Wind Farms having the actual size, scale and quantity of turbines involved in the Winterbourne project, and that by their constant use of windfarm glamour shots, the public and the community are being mislead about the size and scale of the project, even if the fine detail is available, it is not obvious in many of the newsletters and brochures that are distributed to the community by the developer.

On our reading of the responses to submissions, we note that the developer has not responded to the specific issues raised in regards to imagery on newsletters and brochures, but has rather chosen to file our submission under very generic topics and not to respond to the detailed questions they were asked, specifically in regard to the use of imagery of wind towers substantially smaller, in height, capacity and overall project size. To add insult to injury, they proceeded to use another undersized project to adorn the cover of the submissions report. This time they have chosen the Spanish OIZ windfarm, with turbines substantially smaller both in height and capacity, as well as the number of turbines. Perhaps if the proponent was able to limit their project to 30 turbines of this size, that were away from the township, neighbours and the Wild Rivers national park, the project would not be so abhorrent to the community at large.

We feel this is another area where the developer has mislead the average person on the street in regards to the impact of the project, and where the developer has failed to respond to a detailed issue raised in our submissions to the EIS.

As someone passionate about environmental conservation, I support the transition to more sustainable renewable energy projects, Winterbourne is one of these projects. I have always enjoyed visiting the region, and should this project go ahead, I look forward to seeing how the benefits of this project contribute to the overall growth and well-being of the region.

Please find the attached file which lists my concerns with this project.

I would like to make a few points regarding support of the Winterbourne wind farm:
Walcha will benefit from a new Industry creating up to 400 Jobs during construction, a major benefit whilst being built and 16 full time employment on going, the town is going to struggle without new industries and innovations coming to town.

Wind energy works quit well as another farm enterprise, with rising costs, increasing droughts, a wind farm has minimal impact on my farming enterprise, as well as diversifying income. It will be a good fit, to my business model.

Australia needs to migrate away from burning fossil fuels.
We need power urgently, to keep the lights on, wind is the cheapest option currently available.

The amended Winterbourne Wind Project has made significant improvements to the proposed development in the following key areas :-

• The transport route has been changed so that Oxley Highway is not used and greater use has been made of internal project roads to minimise traffic on local road. The proposed transport route now uses Thunderbolts Way and only skirts the northern part of Walcha.

• The turbine layout has been amended by deleting some turbines to minimise the visual effects to near neighbours.

• The refined turbine layout has also reduced the biodiversity impacts.

• On site water sources have been found that can be used for construction and making concrete. This will minimise traffic on local roads and not impact on Walcha’s town water supply.

These changes have addressed the major issues raised in submissions commenting on the EIS.

A generous community benefit fund has been agreed between Winterbourne Wind, Walcha Council and Uralla Council. This fund is one of the largest in Australia and will have ongoing benefits for the local communities for many years to come.

The large size of this wind project will make a significant contribution to the electricity supply in NSW as the unreliable coal generators are retired over the next few years.

The amended Winterbourne Wind Project can connect to the existing grid and not need to wait until EnergyCo provides new transmission lines for projects in the New England Renewable Energy Zone thus helping NSW secure its energy needs and achieving its emission reduction target.

This project should be approved as soon as possible.

See attached

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