Determined to fight wind farm project

Head to the Free Times Facebook page to see videos of wind turbine disasters from around the world – and a video of a turbine blade being transported to a wind farm being constructed at Glen Innes in northern New South Wales.

By Jeremy Sollars

Residents in the vicinity of a proposed $40 million wind farm in the Dalveen and Pozieres districts on the Granite Belt are determined to fight the project right to the bitter end.
As reported in the Free Times in December Brisbane-based wind farm proponent Tim Lucas finally got the all-clear on the project from the Southern Downs Regional Council in late November after nearly three years of haggling over council conditions and objections from locals.
The previous Southern Downs Regional Council originally refused the plan but Mr Lucas appealed and has now accepted renegotiated council conditions to allow his plan to proceed.
Mr Lucas has down-sized the wind farm – to be built on land at Rabbit Fence Road – from eight to six turbines and the project would require a three kilometre section of new 33 KV powerline from the wind farm to the main Ergon powerline into Stanthorpe.
Mr Lucas conceded last year he is still seeking funding for the project and has no formal finalised agreement in place to supply power from the wind farm to Ergon Energy.
But while the plan may be very much in the pipedream category right now, local residents are not taking anything for granted.
Their primary objection is that fact that there are some 40 residences within a two kilometre radius of each of the six planned turbines, which are expected to be 80 metres high with each requiring the equivalent of two Olympic swimming pools of concrete as foundations, with turbine blades typically measuring 50 metres or more in length.
The blades and other components would be manufactured overseas.
The wind farm would also have a solar panel installation and up to six back-up diesel generators.
The residents are concerned about noise and the visual blight on the picturesque region, along with property devaluation and what they say is the impossibility of the developer physically transporting the massive components to the site for construction, given the inadequate road network in the district.
They also say the proposed site, while elevated, is just not windy enough.
Desley Maritan says the locals are not against alternative energy but are adamant this is the wrong location.
“We are not opposed to green energy – but this is quite a heavily populated rural area,” she told the Free Times.
“There are a lot of houses in very close vicinity to these proposed turbines and we have huge concerns about acoustics, which is our main objection.
“The previous council refused the application and we were proud of them for that, but obviously an agreement has been reached now after court proceedings.
“The initial wind monitoring also showed the site is not sufficiently windy to make the project viable.
“But at the end of the day this is simply the wrong location for this kind of project – we have stuck together as residents and this is a credit to everyone involved.”
Residents initially formed an objectors group which was a co-respondent to the legal proceedings but were forced to drop out due to legal costs.
Their court action still ended up costing them around $20,000 collectively, plus time taken away from their jobs and businesses to fight the proposal.
Another local, Jim Richards, who is involved in the rural fire service also has concerns about firefighting limitations the wind farm would impose on the area.
“The wind farm would be a no-fly zone – meaning water-bombing aircraft would have no access in the event of a bushfire,” he said.
“Fire vehicles would also be limited in how close they could get to the turbines on the ground.
“It’s a very scrubby area and there is forestry land nearby – this could create a very difficult and dangerous situation when it comes to fire response.”
Research shows wind turbines themselves pose a fire risk, with hundreds having caught fire around the world in recent years, thanks to highly flammable materials such as hydraulic oil and plastics being in close proximity to machinery and electrical wires which can ignite if they overheat or are faulty, fuelled by oxygen in the form of high winds.
Council support
Mayor Tracy Dobie has publicly backed the Rabbit Ridge Wind Farm, describing it as “an innovative project that will help provide renewable energy for our region from a sustainable source” in a statement released in early December.
“It will help offset the emission of greenhouse gases from traditional coal fired power stations,” Cr Dobie said.
“It also sends a message to investors that the Southern Downs is open for business and we are keen to attract investment in major projects in our region that offer positive outcomes for jobs, for the environment, for the community and businesses, and for allied industries like tourism.”
Council believes the project will create up to 30 jobs and says construction would be expected to take around six months and could be completed by the end of 2017.
Mr Lucas told the Free Times last year that while there’s “not a conga line” of financial backers lining up to help him fund the $40 million project he’s confident work will start by mid-2017.
Mr Lucas – who lives at Rochedale in Brisbane’s south and runs a plumbing supply business based in Sydney – first announced his plans in early 2013, at a time when Ergon Energy was looking at duplicating its existing 110KV line from Warwick to Stanthorpe to boost Stanthorpe’s short and long-term power demand.
He claims his wind farm could generate around 7.5 megawatts daily to help feed Stanthorpe, claiming the town’s current daily demand is 12Mw.
Wind farm turbines typically stand between 60 and 120 metres in height and have been opposed in other parts of Australia due to concerns primarily over noise.
Mr Lucas would not reveal to the Free Times how much of the $40 million required for his wind farm had already raised, saying it was “commercially sensitive”.
He said at that time discussions with Ergon Energy had begun but were “not well advanced” at the present time.