Wind Power For Burnside

Eastern Courier Messenger, Page: 7
Wednesday, 5 April 2006

WIND turbines will be built in Burnside -the first such development in the Adelaide suburbs. Burnside Council approved plans last week to place two 1.8m spinning blades on homes being built at Glen St, Burnside, between the council depot and CFS station. Architect Arthur Grammatopoulos had been hoping for years to incorporate the turbines into a new development.

"I've actually had discussions with an Adelaide company that deals with alternative power over the past couple of years and this (opportunity) came up in the past year or two. "They're trialling this product -it's not on the market at the moment. "Early results show it will power an average household. "The turbines -two connected 1.8m blades that oscillate on top of the roof -will only generate enough energy to power the house.

At Burnside's development assessment meeting last week some councillors criticised aspects of the proposal. Cr Chris Collins said he was "disturbed about starting a trend of putting up windmills in Burnside". "It's not like they are small -it is quite a substantial piece of machinery," he said. "We have to set a precedent here -but if they were for anywhere other than (next to the council depot), I would be voting against it.

"Cr Graham Bills urged the council to consider a trial. "We don't know what these things will do -whether they'll be too big, too noisy, whether birds will fly into them -but we can't prove it or test it until we put it up. "Cr Allan Ward supported the plan, saying spaces would need to be found for turbines" if we don't want to pay increasing electricity bills in the future". A staff report said the impact would be" negligible given that the property is surrounded by commercial and more industrial land uses".

A spokesman for Infrastructure Minister Pat Conlon said the plan was thought to be the first of its kind approved by a metropolitan council.