Winds Of Change

Age
Wednesday 2/7/2008 Page: 19

AS A child growing up in Denmark, Per Bernard watched with interest when the flower farmer across the road erected a giant windmill. "He just got sick of the electricity bills so he installed a wind turbine and everybody thought it was fantastic. He paid back his bank loan in five years, as well as providing all the electricity for heating his greenhouses."

So when a 21-turbine wind farm was proposed near his adopted home of Daylesford in 2004, Bernard was all for the idea. "A group of us went to the public meeting," he says. "We love renewable energy and we were really excited. It was the biggest turnout in the little town of Dean for many, many years." But this bunch of committed renewable-energy lovers was in for a shock. "We witnessed a lot of anger, a lot of fear.

The entire community was just dead against it," says Bernard. "They felt they would be taken over by a big company, with no benefit for the local community, and they were saying no." In the face of vehement objections, Wind Power, the developer behind the proposal, abandoned the project. But Bernard and his cohorts were not prepared to give up. Bernard could point to how the Danes had embraced wind power - 20% of Denmark's electricity is generated by wind. Unlike in Australia, he says, wind power there is driven by communities.

Bernard and his colleagues approached Wind Power and asked if there was any way they could work together. Wind Power did not see a future for its project, but suggested they contact renewable-energy consultant David Shapero, whose company Future Energy immediately came on board as a project partner. It was evident the large-scale corporate owned model was unpalatable to locals, but they hoped a small community-owned one could find support.

Vigorous community consultation began. While Future Energy considered the site and technical requirements, a small core of local volunteers held street stalls, distributed questionnaires, held public meetings and knocked on doors.

Simon Holmes a Court, who owns a property in Daylesford, first heard about the project at a street stall. "I've been interested in renewable energy for quite a while. My house is off-grid, with solar power," he says. Holmes a Court - son of Janet - "went along to a few meetings, was interested and excited by the project" and is now chair of Hepburn Wind, the co-operative that owns the wind farm.

The focus at first was on educating, getting feedback and talking about the idea. Bernard recalls encountering all kinds of reactions. "I met one person who was an electrician. He thought wind turbines were rubbish, noisy, a bad idea. He wanted to know, 'Where are you going to put them all?' When I told him just two turbines would power the equivalent of the whole of Daylesford and Hepburn, it took him a few moments to accept that information. When he finally accepted it, he got angry; angry with the Government.

He said: If it is really that simple, why hasn't it been done before?"' Local enthusiasm for the project grew quickly. "The best thing we ever did was put on free bus tours," Shapero says. "We advertised in the local paper and took groups of about 40 people to Challicum Hills Wind Farm near Ararat, which has 35 turbines.

"We would park about 15 metres from the turbines and simply let people go, let them walk around and stand underneath them, have their picnic lunch. People were expecting noise and dead birds, but being around turbines is actually very calming. It was amazing to see the attitudes change. People were so excited we couldn't get them back on the bus." The patient and open-minded approach the group had adopted was gaining rewards and by the time the planning application was submitted, there were 350 written submissions in support. But there were also 18 objections, which meant the matter had to be contested at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

VCAT reviewed the case rigorously and found in its favour. It seems the benefits of wind power are too numerous to ignore. As Holmes a Court puts it: "It's a real triumph that we've found an energy source that has such a low impact on the environment." Hepburn Wind is now open to investors and expects its turbines will be in the ground sometime during 2009. Ownership is structured to prevent a takeover by a large corporation.

About half the investors will be local residents interested in supporting a secure and clean local energy supply. The State Government has pledged close to $1 million, and other investors and a bank loan will cover the project's total cost of $9 million. "We want this to be the first of many," says Holmes a Court.

"Everything we're doing is being well documented with the aim of producing materials that will allow other people to follow in our footsteps." And already it seems they are. The group has been inundated with requests from community groups wanting to set up their own renewable energy source. As Shapero says: "The level of interest now is unbelievable."

Links: hrea.org.au (Hepburn renewable energy association) hepburnwind.com.au