June 6, 2007
Australia
Australia
Opponents of a wind farm that is planned for Smeaton believe the company’s plans to establish a community reference group is a public relations exercise.
Wind Powers wants to erect at least 19 turbines in the area and hopes to lodge its plans by the end of the year.
The company says the reference group’s aim is to get community input into the number of turbines and where they should go.
A spokesman for the Spa Country Landscape Guardians, Will Elsworth, says the group will have no real influence.
“I can’t see how a community reference group can determine that when it’s really a planning issue,” he said.
“It comes down to the planning scheme and there’s a significant landscape overlay, so the community reference group won’t have any determination where the turbines go … that will be up to the Hepburn Shire Council or the Planning Minister if the scheme goes bigger.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/06/06/doubt-cast-on-wind-farm-community-reference-group-plan/