Wind farm "dangerous precedent"
Allowing the much-amended wind farm planned for Sellicks Hill to go ahead would set a dangerous precedent, the State Opposition says.
New Zealand power company TrustPower applied to build the $60 million wind farm more than five years ago.
The State Government approved the project and granted it major development status in 2003 with the understanding it would be built within two years.
Since then, TrustPower has amended its plans five times and been granted two extensions of time, the last of which expired in November.
Shadow Planning Minister David Ridgway said the Liberals had called for the application to be allowed to lapse in November.
“We think it’s changed so much that the sensible way to go is for TrustPower to lodge a new application and we would welcome them doing so – we are not anti-wind power at all.
“But this sets a dangerous precedent where you could have a development of any sort that gets major project status and then over five or six years, have major changes in the scope of the project.
“Certainly, there is some evidence that residential development has encroached on the site; the houses are closer, turbines are bigger. It potentially throws up a lot of questions that I’m not sure have been answered yet.”
In August the Yankalilla District Council’s development assessment panel recommended the development be dropped because its approval had expired.
TrustPower is carrying on as normal, though. It has already begun planting screen trees in the area and has said it plans to start building the turbines next year.
Planning Minister Paul Holloway is expected to take the latest changes to Cabinet in the next two weeks.
Mr Holloway has told Parliament he had written to TrustPower a year ago about concerns over the time that had passed “with so little progress”.
But a lack of progress is not what concerns Sellicks Hill residents.
Local group True Friends of the Southern Mt Lofty Ranges also wants to see the approval cancelled and TrustPower begin the application process from scratch.
Friends chairman Warren Taylor is worried that the latest amendments to the plan will see the turbines increased in size and power and bring them closer to homes.
“We are going to have some people who will be just 800m from turbines,” he said. “We have some major concerns about that because information from overseas shows that large modern turbines can have significant effects on people in terms of noise and vibration. The French recommend not allowing the construction of turbines closer than 2.5km to people.”
Mr Taylor is also concerned the 16 huge windmills will ruin the natural beauty of the hills, sending property prices plummeting and cause a traffic hazard by distracting drivers.
“If someone wants to have a wind farm up here, let it be considered on the most up to date information,” he said. “Plenty of people who own property in the area have never had the chance to have a say on something that is going to impact on them quite severely.
“If the government is a democratic government, the whole project should be reconsidered with room for discussion and consultation.”
Georgia Gowing
10 October 2008
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