Wind farm bus trip for locals

Cooma Monaro Express
Tuesday 26/9/2006, Page: 3

A BUS trip to Ararat has been organised for locals in a bid to show them the benefits wind farms provide to local communities. The November bus trip will give locals the opportunity to see the impacts wind turbines have on local communities.

Beverley Allen - who has been in the region for more than 50 years organised the bus trip and believes it will provide people with clarity on the controversial wind farm subject. "I think there has been a lot of misinformation on wind farms and I don't think the community should be divided over an issue they don't know much about," she said.

"I thought a lot of people had not seen a wind farm, and until you see one you don't know how it will impact on the community. A lot of people go on hearsay, when you see them they're quite majestic." The mayor of Ararat agrees and will give the people on the bus a civic reception.

"We will give everyone on the bus an opportunity to stand under a wind turbine," Cr Wilson said. "They're not as bad as some people make out and people will share that opinion once they're standing under one. In fact, I think wind farms enhance the landscape."

Cr Wilson said his community has never had a problem with wind farms. "We have never had one formal written complaint:' he said. "There was a few concerns but we had a consultation process so everyone was correctly informed about them." Mrs Allen believes everyone should support the trip.

"I think the community should get behind and support this, not only for Monaro but also for the wider community. If we are serious about reducing green house gases, we should look at wind farms because they will help fight the problem of climate change," she said. "As Ian Kiernan of Clean up Australia says: 'if you think wind farms are ugly, climate change is a lot more ugly'."

The bus will leave Cooma on Friday, November 17 and will return to Cooma Sunday, November 19. For more information on the Ararat bus trip contact Beverley Allen on 6456 3336.