Ballarat Courier
Thursday 18/1/2007 Page: 2
THE Pyrenees Shire Council has given wind farm company Wind Power Pty Ltd the green light for a 19-turbine wind farm at Lexton. The approval was made at the council's meeting on Tuesday night.
The wind farm will provide enough power to supply about 16,000 homes, and will displace about 113,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas a year, the equivalent of taking 26,000 cars off the road. The project is believed to cost about $28 million.
The company submitted its application to the council in November, drawing three objections from residents. However, Mayor Gabriel Horvat said there were no technical issues with the application and felt the council had dealt with all issues fairly well. He said the council was very supportive of renewable energy projects.
At the moment, we're in a prime position for the establishment of wind farms as we have all the key factors; hills, wind and major power infrastructure," he said. We need to utilise the potential of wind development within the shire." The development is expected to bring a range of benefits to the shire, including employment, development and extra rate revenue.
Meanwhile, a newly formed group met with the council on Tuesday to discuss their concerns over Wind Power's Stockyard Hill wind farm proposal.
The company is looking into a project of around 70 wind turbines in the area.
Cr Horvat said the group was not against wind farm development, but rather had a lack of information and understanding about wind projects. Cr Horvat said while the council was in favour of wind developments, it did not mean they were "opening the gate without checks and balances".
If the community can't be brought on board then we have to change our views." Wind Power was unavailable for comment yesterday.
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