Coastal wind storms

Herald Sun
Tuesday 26/8/2008 Page: 4

A $50 MILLION wind farm will be built near Victoria's top coastal attractions, despite State Government promises to keep turbines away from the Great Ocean Rd. The Government says the Newfield Wind Farm, about 12km from the Twelve Apostles in the southwest, will bring jobs to Victoria and boost renewable energy. But residents say it could be the start of a flood of wind turbines near environmentally sensitive coast land. The Acciona Energy wind farm will include 15 turbines that are 110m tall.

It was approved by the state planning tribunal with strict environmental and noise management conditions. The turbines will be seen on the road between the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge, which was one of the reasons Corangamite Shire dumped the plans in 2006. Residents now have no endangered species' get-out clause after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal said the threat to the endangered grey goshawk and Wedge-Tailed Eagles in the area was small.

VCAT members Margaret Baird and Cindy Wilson said the road was "one of our nation's most precious and treasured assets", but that was not enough to stop the wind farm. "We do not consider the minor visual incursion of the wind farm in this context to unreasonably detract from the experience of the Great Ocean Rd," the VCAT members' report says. Corangamite Mayor Ruth Gstrein said renewable energy should be supported but not so close to the Twelve Apostles. "I don't think there's any doubt this is a world recognised attraction," Cr Gstrein said.

Newfield resident Philip van Rijthoven has a cattle farm bordering the wind farm, one of 69 properties within 3km. He said people in Victoria's west were nervous about being overrun by wind farms. Monash University energy expert Patrick Moriarty said building wind farms in environmentally sensitive areas should be avoided but a change might be forced in the future. "If we have to move to 100 per cent renewable energy, it's not going to be easy," Dr Moriarty said.

There are 37 wind farm projects on the state Department of Primary Industries' website, but only five are operating. In 2006, then Victorian energy minister Theo Theophanous said planning processes ensured wind farms were only built in appropriate areas. "Sensitive areas such as national parks and the Great Ocean Rd have been protected," Mr Theophanous said.

Dan Ward, spokesman for Energy Minister Peter Batchelor, said wind farms were still subject to stringent planning controls and each project was assessed on its merits. Mr Ward said Newfield would help ensure 10 per cent of Victoria's electricity consumption came from renewable energy by 2016. Acciona Energy Asia Pacific group managing director Brett Thomas said building would begin late next year and should be finished in 2010. Mr Thomas said 100 jobs could be created through the building process, as well as seven permanent jobs.