More trouble with turbines

South Gippsland Sentinel Times
Tuesday 10/7/2007 Page: 9

WIND turbines have not had a happy time at South Gippsland Shire Council meetings in the past and so it turned out to be when the latest planning application, involving 'wind turbines' came before the council last week. On this occasion however, they were not 70 metre high towers but a maximum of 13 metres high and were to be used for domestic purposes. But they were still a sticking point for the council and in the end forced the deferral of a new home application at Toora North.

The applicant, Andrew Macaulay of Toora North, took the opportunity to attend the council meeting last Wednesday to boost his claims, promising to find a model of wind generator that didn't require the 100 metre setback being proposed by the shire. But despite a call by Cr Bob Newton not to hold up the home application any longer (first lodged back in December 2006), the council did defer it pending a review of the turbine designs and setbacks.

Two local objections have been received, raising concerns about the height of the turbines and possible noise but the shire report on the application did not support the concerns. "...it is considered that the domestic wind generators will not have a negative effect on the visual amenity of the area."

Mr Macaulay did score some points, though, when asked by Cr Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks why he needed two wind generators when the power lines ran right past the site. "It's going to be a sustainable development and both the State and Local Government supports sustainable development. "There's no transformer on the power pole and with the price for connecting power roughly equivalent, we thought why not go for the most sustainable outcome," Mr Macaulay said.