Lai Lai turbine plans sent out

Ballarat Courier
Wednesday 11/4/2007 Page: 3

MAPS showing the first released layout of a Lal Lal windfarm have been sent out to about 300 landowners. West Wind Energy has finished preliminary planning for the windfarm and is now working on detailed environmental and technical studies.

A planning permit application is expected to be submitted to the State Government within six months. The proposed Lal Lal windfarm will be split into two sections, one north of Elaine and the other east of Yendon and include between 70 and 80 wind turbines.

Landholders and people who have expressed an interest in the proposal will receive the neaps of the first release of the windfarm's layout and a newsletter providing updates on the project in the mail this week.

A community open day will also be held later this month at the Lal Lal Community Hall. WindWest business development manager Tobias Geiger said the meeting was a chance for people to get first-hand information about the windfarm and identify important viewpoints in the area.

The visual impact is something we address normally by showing photo montages from a number of viewpoints," he said. It gives people a better impression of what it's going to look like and how it's going to affect the landscape in general." Mr Geiger said the visual impact of wind turbines was in the eye of the beholder.

For everyone who doesn't like the look, there's seven or eight who like the look of them," he said. A monitoring mast will be installed on the site in the next couple of weeks to calculate noise and shadow flicker. Mr Geiger said the windfarni was not a "foregone conclusion".

If there is a good reason why we can't meet the local planning scheme or a serious environmental concern or a problem with a guideline, then the project won't be approved," he said. At this stage, we couldn't identify any issue that might be called a 'show stopper'."

The community open day will be held at the Lal Lal Community Hall, Clarendon Rd, Lal Lal on Wednesday, April 18 from 2pm to 8pm.