Wind farm Bill 'best outcome': Leases to co-exist

Barrier Daily Truth
Friday 6/6/2008 Page: 1

The Silverton Wind Farm could go ahead on "parallel" leases that would guarantee security to both the developer and the graziers, according to the State Government. Minister for Lands, Tony Kelly, has introduced a Bill seeking amendments to the Western Lands and Crown Lands Act that would allow the Government to grant a Crown lease alongside the current leases held by four graziers affected by the Silverton wind farm development.

"In effect, this means that there will be parallel, or two leases, on the one piece of land," said the Minister yesterday. The Bill is the latest offer from the Government which had previously sought to resume land around Silverton where Epuron wants to build a $2 billion wind farm. It had argued resumption was necessary to ensure the wind farm had security of tenure. Mr Kelly said the Western Lands and Crown Lands Amendment (Special Purposes Leases) Bill 2008 introduced to parliament on Wednesday night was a "win-win for all involved."

"It provides long term security of tenure for providers of critical infrastructure, whilst preserving the tenure of existing leaseholders who will still have a say in the negotiations," he said. He said the parallel lease could not be granted without the express consent of the graziers in order that they benefit from the changes. Mr Kelly said the amendments proposed in the Bill provided flexibility and options for the community.

"This is a common sense solution which will satisfy the concerns of the graziers and ensure the proponent of the Silverton Wind Farm have secure Crown lease title over the land, if the project gets the green light:' The graziers are still working through the Bill and want some amendments. They met Department of Lands representatives last Friday. "We're working through the Bill with our legal representatives," said their spokesman, Nigel Lawrence. "There are some issues there that open up a can of worms in some areas," he told BDT yesterday.

He said these included compensation, liability and land care issues but he didn't want to elaborate on the detail. But he said the Bill was a step in the right direction. "If we retain our Western Lands rights and get adequate compensation for the wind farm, well then we'll start to see a light at the end of the tunnel:' Mr Lawrence said he still believed changing the purpose of the leases would be better. A sub-lease could have been granted to Epuron and an adjusted rental formula for compensation enforced, he said.

"That was the right way to go, a lot more simpler and not as complicated as what the Government is proposing.' He said the graziers were hoping they can get their amendments passed and the matter settled for good within the month. One issue the Graziers are adamant about is seeking a guarantee that compensation from Epuron be used in a Community Fund for this area, said Mr Lawrence.

"We want to see a structural guarantee that the money stays here in our community where it can do a lot of good" Silverton Wind Farm Developments issued a short statement welcoming the Bill. "We're pleased to see the Government continues to work constructively with Silverton Wind Farm Developments and the leaseholders in the interests of this vital long term project," said spokesman Martin Poole.