Robbins Island windfarm proposal gets more than 380 representations
14th March, 2022
By Meg Whitfield, The Advocate
More than 380 representations have been received in response to a development application for a proposed 122-turbine windfarm at Robbins Island, off Circular Head.
Proponents UPC Robbins Island lodged the development application and Environmental Action Plan for the contentious project in January, with a 42-day public exhibition period.
The resulting 383 community representations have now been forwarded to the Environmental Protection Authority for consideration, the Circular Head Council has confirmed.
It comes after years of planning and debate over the project, with UPC chief operating officer David Pollington previously describing the project as “one of the largest investments ever in Tasmania”.
“The application will not come before the Council until after the EPA has completed their assessment”.
“The application will not come before the Council until after the EPA has completed their assessment”.Circular Head Council
Circular Head mayor Daryl Quilliam said he wasn’t surprised by the high number of responses, with the council having hired a separate premises just to handle representation or information queries.
“We suspected it might have been a fairly high number,” he said. “It’s probably less than I expected, but close to it.”
As a planning authority, the Circular Head Council will only assess representations that relate directly to the planning scheme, with independent planning consultants to provide advice.
The development application will not come before councillors until the EPA has completed their assessment.
Cr Quilliam said he did not expect this to occur until about August or September.
He said regardless of the outcome, his main hope was that the community felt they’d been listened to.
“Not everyone is going to be happy with the result, whether it’s for it or against it… but the biggest thing is that they’re heard.
“That’s what’s most important to me.”
DeFrock 