Wind farm talks on site

Barrier Daily Truth
Friday 7/3/2008 Page: 1

Four graziers are hoping Minister for Lands Tony Kelly will, after visiting their properties on the weekend, be convinced they deserve to negotiate their own compensation deal with wind farm developer Epuron. Minister for Lands Tony Kelly will on Saturday visit at least one of the four properties his government is seeking to partly withdraw in order to secure tenure of land for a proposed $2 billion wind farm.

Affected leaseholder Nigel Lawrence said Mr Kelly agreed to do this after meeting with himself and the graziers' representatives at a meeting in Sydney on Wednesday. "Hopefully he'll have a heart when he sees us on Saturday, and take on board our concerns," Mr Lawrence told BDT yesterday. Mr Lawrence said the government still want to withdraw the land and pay compensation accordingly.

The government has argued it must withdraw the land and negotiate directly with Epuron to provide ongoing secure title because the leases don't allow "State significant" projects of this type. The graziers claim they can negotiate separately with Epuron under their Western Lands leases. "We gave reasons why they should not withdraw the land and how a precedent would be set, how it would affect people's equity in the western division," said Mr Lawrence.

He said Mr Kelly agreed to accept a formal submission from the graziers. "We're putting that together as we speak" Mr Lawrence said he hoped the "character" of the properties at Silverton would be evident to the Minister during his tour. "We want to show him the character of the hills, what is going to be transformed by the turbines and how they are going to bisect the properties and affect our operations." Also highlighted will be infrastructure installed over the years, and how the wind farm could mean a loss in revenue.

Mr Lawrence said they want to impress on the Minister that adequate compensation would make the wind farm acceptable. He said the government's initial compensation offer was "inadequate." More importantly, the leaseholders want to keep tenure of land. "We can lease the land to Epuron, rather than the government. They can change that in the Act and we don't think they can legitimately withdraw the land under Section 34B for public purposes." Mr Lawrence said he would be extremely disappointed if the Minister rejected their claim.

"If that happens, we'll take appropriate action." Mr Lawrence said the graziers have also suggested a "Sustainability Fund" be set up for the Western Division based on revenue from the wind farm. "They've done that for two wind farms in Victoria, where funds from them are distributed to organisations in the community. "If the government is set on compensation from the wind farm, we won't see it once Treasury gets its hands on it." Mr Lawrence suggested groups like Penrose Park or the SES could benefit from such funds.

"The Minister took on board that suggestion. We don't have any problems relinquishing money from this project, as long as it stays in the west. "We don't want to see it go to tunnels or freeways:" Mr Lawrence said the Sustainability Fund could be set up with a portion of the compensation or from the wind farm owner directly.

The Minister's spokesman yesterday confirmed a submission from the graziers would be looked at by Mr Kelly. "We look forward to their submission," he said. The Minister, however, had "no comment" on the Shires Association of NSW's claim technical wording in the Western Lands Act should be changed to allow the leaseholders to directly negotiate with Epuron.

The Association supports the graziers over their right to adequate compensation for the wind farm. The Minister expected to meet formally with Association's President, Bruce Miller, about the issue. "The Association is obviously representing their stakeholders and it is an ongoing dialogue...they will be listened to," said Mr Kelly's spokesperson.

He also wished to emphasise the wind farm proposal was in its "very early stages." "We are so far away from anything happening, nothing is going to happen until development application approval." He said the Minister and his Department have always been listening to those involved. "There will be adequate compensation to leaseholders for leases affected by the proposed wind farm."