Proposal to build Australia’s tallest wind turbines in regional NSW community divides residents over impacts on property values, health
15th February, 2024
By Caroline Marcus, Sky News
A regional community in NSW is reeling over a proposal to prop up 63 huge 254m wind turbines across agricultural land, with many accusing the developer of inadequate consultation with residents.
A regional NSW community is outraged over a proposal to build what would be the tallest wind turbines in Australia, accusing the developer of inadequate consultation with affected residents.
Cabonne Shire residents, in the state’s central west, are concerned the Kerrs Creek Wind Farm proposal has already had a negative effect on land values in the area and are worried about the visual and noise impacts of the project.
The farm is a proposal by UK developer RES Group to build 63 turbines across 9,000 hectares of agricultural land.
Residents were told at the end of last year that the turbines would have a maximum tip height of 280m, just 29m shy of Sydney Tower, the second tallest building in the country.
RES revised the height down to 254m in January, following community uproar.
But these would still make the turbines 24m taller than the current record of 230m, which are at Dulacca Wind Farm in southern Queensland, also developed by RES.
Bryce Morley, a local landholder and member of the main opposition group to the project Voice For Cabonne, says the community’s main objection relates to the impact on land values.
The property developer says anecdotal evidence from overseas shows wind farms can reduce land values by up to 40 per cent and the stigma starts before a proposal is even approved.
“It’s been said that the anticipation of the arrival of a wind farm can have a far greater detrimental impact on property values than when the wind farm is operational itself,” Mr Morley said.
“That leads to a diminished pool of potential buyers, which reduces competition in purchasing property, which eventually leads to downward pressure on prices.”
He also cited the potential health impacts including on hearing problems, sleep interruption and avoidance of going outdoors, among other concerns.
Regional locals in NSW are reeling over a proposal to prop up 63 huge wind turbines across agricultural land that will reach heights that are just 55m shy of Sydney Tower. Picture: News Corp (file image)
However, proponents have argued there is no reliable evidence to support anecdotal claims of adverse health effects.
“If these wind turbines are so safe and so beautiful to view, why aren’t governments placing them in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne, where they’d be closer to the consumers of electricity, far more efficient and far less prone to voltage drop, given the distances required to transport electricity?” Mr Morley said.
The project has divided the community and caused rifts within families.
Five or six landholders are believed to have been signed up by the developer to host turbines on their property, but Voice for Cabonne claims most impacted residents are opposed to the project.
Locals flew a helicopter to demostrate the height of the proposed turbines. Picture: Supplied
Mr Morley says there has been some discussion about compensation by the developer, but no detail on how many people would be compensated and by how much.
Farmer Glen Walker moved into the town of Boomey 14 months ago from further west in the state, so he and his sick wife could be closer to amenities.
He said he did not know about the proposal when he bought his land, which included a heritage church the couple had planned to transform into a commercial and community venue.
If approved, the view from the church and his home would be of the 63 turbines, many on property directly adjoining his.
“The main concerns for us, really, is land devaluation or stagnation of the valuation of our land that should be increasing,” Mr Walker said.
“The cumulative effects, of course, go a lot further than that noise, light flicker, there’ll be red flashing lights on top for aviation purposes obviously, can’t fight fires from above.
“It’s just in the wrong spot.”
Mr Walker claims he has only been invited to one RES Group meeting, despite being a close-by landholder, which he described as “very divisive.”
“Even just along this road, there are 110 residences that the proponent has indicated are going to be affected,” Mr Walker said. “You’ll find it’s going to go further than that. You can see this from Orange, from Molong, from Wellington. That’s a long way.”
Local NSW Nationals MP Sam Farraway says there are “a huge number” of impacted and affected landholders who have had little or no consultation with the developer.
“This developer has a lot of work to do and until they can address these fundamental issues with this proposal, this project should be put on the burner and paused, if not cancelled if those issues cannot be addressed,” Mr Farraway said.
The politician said the project sat on the border between two local government areas – Dubbo and Cabonne Shire – meaning developers only had to deal with the former’s council, even though it was the residents of the latter who would suffer “all the grief”.
“This will have a massive impact on the landscape of the Cabonne shire and one of the primary issues that locals are calling for is let’s get this right and let’s look at the alignment of these turbines, let’s ensure that the community is brought on the journey and that there is a shared benefit scheme where locals and this community actually get something out of it,” Mr Farraway said.
The former regional roads minister said a major unanswered question is how the 80-metre blades will be transported along the Mitchell Highway in Molong, without having to knock down the community pool adjacent to a tight bend.
“Who pays for it?” Mr Farraway said. “It’s millions of dollars to move and replace a [piece of] critical infrastructure in little communities like Molong and the pool is used pretty much every day of the week.”
The project’s website claims it will generate about 340 direct and 540 indirect jobs during its two-year build, and enough clean energy to power up to 325,000 homes across NSW every year.
RES community engagement adviser Kim Stone told Sky News that RES had held three community drop-in information sessions, most recently in October, and presented at community meetings organised by local residents in December and January.
“RES will be hosting further community information sessions prior to the lodgement of any development application documents,” Ms Stone said.
“Opportunities for engagement will continue as further details are developed and the project progresses through the planning processes.”
She says it is not possible to finalise arrangements for compensation at an early stage of the project while “design and technical investigations are still ongoing”.
The project’s website states that the Environmental Impact Statements and the planning application would be submitted in the first quarter of this year.
RES is undertaking an assessment of transport routes and will consult with Transport for NSW, local councils and the community to “ensure the adequacy of proposed routes”, Ms Stone says.
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