Wind farm study under way

Bacchus Marsh - Express Telegraph
Tuesday 13/2/2007 Page: 1

Lal Lal farmer Geoff Fisken believes a wind farm - the first in Moorabool Shire - will "drought-proof' his property as the effects of the big dry continue to worsen. Mr Fisken told the Express Telegraph last week he was approached by Westwind Energy last year with plans to build a wind farm that would take up just over one-third of his 2200-hectare farm.

Westwind also wants to build a second farm in Elaine. Mr Fisken would not confirm how many turbines would be built on his property. It would be a "significant number" but less than 50, he said. Mr Fisken said the proposal was "still full of ifs and buts" and environmental studies were being completed.

"My understanding is that if everything goes well and [Westwind] get planning approval from the Government, the earliest we would see [turbines built] would be early next year." The subject of wind farms has been a contentious one in Moorabool. Two wind farm proposals - the most recent in Yaloak near Ballan - were rejected by the community when consultation by an independent panel found little support.

In 2004, Moorabool was identified by the CSIRO as one of 12 municipalities in Victoria with significant areas of high wind speeds.

An independent panel examining the Yaloak proposal found that a 70-generator wind farm should not go ahead because it would endanger the local wedgetail eagle population and affect the landscape and visual amenity.

Mr Fisken said most of his neighbours were "quite supportive" of the wind farm, but admitted there were some who were concerned about views. "I don't think anybody in the country can say that their view is going to stay the same forever.

"You might get a neighbour who builds a house and all of a sudden you have a house in your view." He said that although propping up his decreasing farm income was a big factor in his support for the wind farm proposal, the need for renewable energy was also important.

"It is another source of income for us because the drought has certainly placed pressure on our finances and our ability to earn income. "I just look at it like we farm sheep, cattle and crops - now we are farming the wind. It's another diversification." "In a perfect world, if we were all making plenty of money out of crops and livestock, we might not want to have the wind towers there.

"But its not a perfect world. We need to be looking at renewable energy and we need to be looking to the future of our farms and our farming families," Mr Fisken said. He would not confirm how much he stood to make from the venture, but said it would "more then compensate" for the loss of production due to the turbines and drought.

Westwind will complete environmental studies in the coming months before the proposal goes to the State Government.