Project on track

Warrnambool Standard
Tuesday 13/3/2007 Page: 7

THE company that hopes to build a 15-turbine wind farm at Newfield has confirmed it will soon submit a planning application to Corangamite Shire Council A spokeswoman for Acciona Energy said the company planned to submit the application within the next three weeks. The proposed site for the wind farm is eight kilometres inland from Port Campbell on farming land.

Acciona claimed the wind farm would offset as much as 70,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and supply about 28,000 people with electricity. The company's project manager, Julien Gaschinard, said the State Government should not require an environmental effects statement for the project because it would not cause significant environmental problems.

The Federal Government agreed the project wouldn't impact on matters of national environmental significance. Ms Gaschinard said the company was consulting the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the shire to ensure all environmental issues were addressed within the projects environment and planning reports before the application was submitted to the council.