National code of practice needed

Hamilton Spectator
Tuesday 19/9/2006, Page: 5

THE Hawkesdale Macarthur Landscape Guardians has supported the development of a national code of practice for wind farms. Yet only if the code enables neighbouring landholders to have their say.

Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, met with key stakeholders in the wind industry to decide on a national code for wind farms last week. In the past Senator Campbell has said Australia needed a national code to specify where wind farms should be approved.

Landscape guardians have welcomed the national code, which would unify the different policies currently run by state governments and possibly create boundaries about where wind farms could be built.

Hawkesdale Macarthur Landscape Guardians president, Roger Learmonth, said a national code might put the pressure on the Bracks Government to conform to wind farm regulations. "As long as they give the adjacent neighbours the chance to put into the national code, I will be very much for it (a national code)," Mr Learmonth said.

"We should have a lot of say how far they are away from neighbouring fences, and visual impact is also a big thing."

Yet Auswind chief executive, Dominque La Fontaine, said the meeting was not about "interfering with the responsibility of State governments to adjudicate on planning issues". She said it was held to address the concerns surrounding wind farms.

"Our industry is constantly working to ensure that it responds to the community's expectations, as global concern about climate change increases the need for emission-free electricity production," she said.

"The round table recognised that the approach the wind energy industry is already taking is the right one, and agreed that Auswind's Best Practice Guidelines, independent accreditation scheme and its work on landscape assessment would form the basis of a national code," Ms La Fontaine said. "That is a big vote of approval for the industry."

Ms Fontaine said the meeting had also given community representatives a chance to express their view, while hearing details of the industry's ongoing efforts to ensure best practice in landscape assessment and community consultation. She said the meeting served to promote "better understanding all round".

However, Mr Learmonth said at present the guardians had not been given any more details on the development of the 183-turbine Hawkesdale-Macarthur wind farm.

"I have been in touch with the DSE (Department of Sustainability and Environment) recently and they will not give me any answers whatsoever, which makes it very difficult for neighbours (to the proposed site)," he said.

The Bracks Government approved a 116 turbine, $460 million wind farm at Mt Gellibrand last month, yet Mr Learmonth said this development was in a different league to the Macarthur development.

"The Bracks Government seems to be doing the small ones first. But the Macarthur wind farm is a big one, a $600-$700 million project and I think that money is going to be very hard to find. So I think the Macarthur wind farm is still a fair way away.

"Plus the neighbours have been objecting since the word go, whereas at Mt Gellibrand there was not a lot of opposition from adjoining landholders. "This might be because there are a lot of hills around that area, whereas we are flat and you will be able to see these for 20 to 30km away."