Vestas workers back on the job

Hobart Mercury
Saturday 26/5/2007 Page: 12

A NEW company has been formed in Tasmania's North- West to re-employ workers of former wind-turbine maker Vestas. The new company, Southern Prospect, was established by former Vestas managing director Lee Whiteley. He has already employed 12 workers and aims to have employed 30 by the end of the year, endeavouring to give former Vestas employees the chance to keep using their skills and training.

"We're still servicing the wind-power industry but we're not going to be assembling turbines, which is what Vestas did," Mr Whiteley said. "We will be doing maintenance, component rebuilding, refurbishment, fabricating, and attracting new manufacturing opportunities to the region." Mr Whiteley said Southern Prospect would be more diverse than Vestas, in order to remain sustainable in the future.

Danish-owned Vestas Nacelles Tasmania pulled its wind-power parts and service plant out of Wynyard last year, resulting in the loss of 55 jobs. The plant's closure was attributed to falling demand for the components being produced and maintained. In 2005 Vestas decided against building a blade plant at Wynyard that could have employed another 200 people. Following the closure, the Federal Government announced a $700,000 funding package intended to resurrect the industry at Wynyard, but the funding has not yet been used.

Mr Whiteley said Southern Prospect was entirely privately funded, but he would be talking to Braddon Liberal MHR Mark Baker about trying to secure some of the federal funding to help strengthen and expand the business, which employs a significant number of former Vestas workers and is operating out of the old Vestas building. "We purchased all of Vestas' old assets, including the building, equipment and tools," Mi Whiteley said. "We've been operating for two or three months now, but we've been taking it slowly."