Winterbourne Wind Farm

Submission on the amended Winterbourne Wind Project EIS proposal 31-10-2024

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.



Mark Waring
55S Middle St
Walcha NSW 2354

Please see attached

This project has been in the pipe line for a number of years and I hope this will be the time that it is finally approved

To Whom it may concern,
RE: WINTERBOURNE WIND FARM APPLICATION NO.SDD-10471
I declare that I support the Winterbourne Wind Farm proposal ID SSD-10471

I am writing a submission in support of the Winterbourne Wind Farm.

This project is vital for our town due to the financial assistance and security for our council. Us as farmers and locals have thru the years experienced drought, bushfires and financial hardships on the land and in our town.
The bushfires effect on farms, national parks, wildlife and native species were devastating. With the opportunity for Walcha to host wind turbines and have a more controlled infrastructure and use back burning around parks and farms will certainly limit this happening again.
There has been speculation around possible amalgamation for our council. For Walcha this would be a road to failure. We need to bring back an income stream to the town and make businesses and the town prosper again. The Community fund that Winterbourne Wind is providing is a continuing financial boost for Walcha and will be an asset for everyone in our township.
Many of our young people leave this town after school. There are few options, and many young people are reluctant to return to Walcha due to lack of employment and other opportunities.
The Winterbourne Wind will create many opportunities during years of construction and after. This project will also create awareness around education in renewable energy. Already, there have been sponsorship for school students, educational information sessions and sponsorship support of local events from Winterbourne Wind.
Wind power is a good clean source of energy that Australia should adopt like the rest of the world. Europe still uses wind power as a strong source of power, in some places now over 40 years and this is to be continued in the future.
Walcha is a great location to host a wind project of this scale, the influx of traffic due to transport is not going to have a big impact on Walcha due to times and alternative roads. Water and gravel will be sourced mostly on sites or from local businesses and take the pressure off town. Visually, once the towers are built, we will see them, but they will fit into our environment. Having lived near wind turbines the noise levels from your own fridge is higher.
To be able to have this opportunity in our area will create jobs, growth, tourism and support for our town.
I fully support the Winterbourne Wind project.

Please refer to attached document

I am a resident of Walcha, and fully supportive of this development, for the benefits of this community, state and the country.
I believe this process has taken too long and for the benefit of the community approval should be sped up

Please read the attached document

Please read the attached document outlining my objections.

This is a positive project for the region and preserving our environment here around Walcha.

Energy from the wind, and solar in the Walcha region has lasting benefits to the community and future generations. Less harm than an equivalent mine in the Walcha region.

I would like to support the project and the economic benefits it will bring to the Winterbourne area, Walcha and the surrounding areas. Any project that is costing 1.9 billion is going to have a major economic benefit to the community. The jobs created during construction and afterwards, the money spent with local businesses and the sizeable community benefit fund are all going to make a difference to the area.

In Eastern Australia there is a looming energy crisis. We need new power generation quickly to enable business to continue. Nuclear is a long way off and according to all reports will be very expensive adding to power prices. This project will help to deliver cheaper power in a clean, sustainable way whilst providing jobs in our part of the regions.

The Winterbourne Wind Farm is part of a developing financial bubble brought about by the green boom, popularizing short term , expensive and government incentivised fixes to the worlds climate change issues. These fixes are ill conceived and will have long term detrimental economic consequences for Australia and do more harm than good.

The international business interests behind this Winterbourne development care absolutely nothing for the details of the project itself other than it returning a long term, stable, minimum 7%return on invested capital. This project is only about a return on investment and the disruption and /or destruction of small communities, farms, wildlife, native forest, daily lives, businesses, long term survival, tourism, production of food and fibre and whatever else is affected - it's of no concern, mere details to be negotiated away so that money can be made.

The Winterbourne Wind farm will put stress on existing local infrastructure and require the building of a lot more. The local community will inevitably pay in terms of losing existing trades people and services as they are whisked away to the lucrative short term opportunities. A few community members will benefit financially, but the remainder will 'grin and bear it' or sell out and leave. I have seen these results personally - communities becoming ghosts of their former existance.

The wind turbines themselves will have to be dealt with in the future - disposal details, rehabilitation of sites and infrstructure, the whole costs involved and who will pay the dollars - these details are not clear at all.

Development of the Winterbourne Windfarm so far, has caused huge division and disruption in the community of Walcha.
This strong, friendly, tight knit community is now divided and angry and very very tired. Who will stay, who will make huge amounts of money, who will miss out, who will lose money, who cares and who doesn't care????. They are all there.
And for what? Wind farms have been designed and promoted to make money for some, sickening amounts of it for others, and that is their only value. The energy they produce can be achieved in far more environmentally friendly, long term cost effective, and community friendly means.

This is a great project in a well located area for a Wind Farm. It is good to see that conerns raised previously have been addressed so that it in now a great proposal. We need to hurry up and start building before the lights go out as the coal plants are forced to shut.

As a 3rd generation Farmer in the Walcha district I am very pleased to see the investment in a large scale renewable energy project. It will hopefully be the start of more in the New England area and will have a positive effect on climate change which will also be a benefit to the next generation and others to follow. With our family farms hosting turbines and receiving a passive income from them, it will allow us to better manage and recover from drought and severe weather events.

The changes that have been made to the project proposal such as an on-site quarry, the use of many local water sources from landholders for the water required and using the Thunderbolts Way for the Oversize vehicles are fantastic changes and will be of great benefit to the community. This will help relieve the local roads and infrastructure with a huge number of vehicles taken off local roads. This is a great benefit as there will be less traffic in and around the local township of Walcha.

The financial benefit as a farmer is great and it will also flow on to be very beneficial to local business, which will be a huge boost to the economy of the Walcha District. This benefit will also be boosted by the increased population that Walcha will gain during construction and once the project is operational with full time jobs. The Community Benefit Fund will be huge for Walcha as the $750,000 a year that will be received for the life of the project will be invested into local associations, organisations, clubs and sporting facilities. This will greatly benefit the local council as they will not need to find money for such investments into so many local facilities for many years to come.

The Walcha Council will also benefit from this project as they will receive many infrastructure upgrades and the ability to earn extra income from providing equipment and materials during the construction period. It should also help to contribute to its ongoing resilience and sustainability to stay as an independent council and hopefully reduce the chance of Walcha being Amalgamated with a lager council. Amalgamation with a larger council is something that the whole of the Walcha community does not want to happen in the future ever.

As a host Landowner I would like to point out that the process of negotiations and communication with the developer has been very open and fair over many years. The developer has also done a great job with community consultation especially within the strict COVID restrictions when they were in place.
To date there have been 17 double page Project Updates published in the local Advocate since 10th March 2020 with plenty of detail about where the project was up to each time. The developers also held two 2Day open days at the local Bowling club where everyone in the community was invited to come along and see where the project was up to and to ask any questions they may have had in relation to the project. The developer was also able to have a stall at the local show for the last 3 years running with lots of information about the project being available to everyone in the community.

In summary this will be a fantastic project for the Walcha Community and it means it will have a wonderful and prosperous future for the generations to come.

I personal believe that these wind energy farms are a great idea, they are eco friendly and are saving the earth. I am all for saving the earth

As one of the longest serving business owners in Walcha (The family company was formed in 1951) it is imperative that this project goes ahead. NSW & Australia are facing a power crisis due to the lack of power stations. The current government won’t agree to Nuclear so the windfarms are going to be one of two alternatives.Also the income that will be generated by the construction of these turbines will be a massive boost for our township not to mention the improvement to our road infrastructure. As Vice President of the Walcha Bowling club a project of this magnitude will ensure the continuation of this service and all other businesses which is vital to the township of Walcha.

I fully support the project

I believe the project is too big within too close a proximity to the township of Walcha. Walcha has some of the most amazing grazing country in the state and such beautiful habitats, why should they be disrupted, along with the community, to supply power and produce revenue for stakeholders who are no connection to the district. I believe we do need renewable energy but move the projects to an area that are going to have minimal effects on the locals. The New England REZ doesn't seem to take into account the intense grazing operations, smaller farms where people are effected by the neighbours very easily compared to somewhere with more expansive properties where impact to locals will be minimised.

The Winterbourne project is an exciting renewable energy opportunity for rural Australia. I wish we had one in Yamba!
The benefits to all Australians are great (Co2 reduction, more clean energy on the grid to go with great rooftop solar that so many Aussies use), and I'm really happy to see a projects like this with so many benefits to the community.
The community fund is a great approach - ongoing support for the community in the millions over the coming decade, in addition to the >400 regional jobs that this project will create. It's tragic that it appears that people supported by the fossil fuel industry are trying to prevent Walcha from getting the benefit of this project and a lot of disinformation has been spread.

I visited two different wind farms over 5 years ago to ask all the hard questions, and walked away more than satisfied with the clear facts of the positive impact on the community, and that all the negative pushback (bird strikes were about five total a year, much less than the local highway) had been inaccurate and never came about.

Please don't let unsubstantiated misinformation ruin an amazing chance for this community. I wish we had a project like this in my area in rural NSW.

I look forward to hearing about all the great impact from Winterbourne in the future and I plan to visit to see it for myself!