Victorian Nationals Energy spokesman Peter Hall has called on the Government to acknowledge that windfarms devalue properties surrounding the land on which they are sited, and to review planning guidelines to reflect the drop in value.
Mr Hall said that irrefutable proof of property devaluation was contained in conditions attached to a recent planning permit issued by South Gippsland Shire Council.
The condition, attached to a permit to subdivide land adjoining the proposed Bald Hills wind energy facility, requires future land owners to be advised that “residents on the lots may experience detrimental amenity affects arising from the facility such as noise, blade glint and blade flicker.”
Mr Hall said this latest legal requirement comes on top of sworn independent assessments of land devaluation in areas where wind turbines are or are planned to be located.
“The State’s planning guidelines blithely ignore the impact wind turbines have on the value of neighbouring properties and at the very least this impact should be part of the planning considerations. In every other form of development, such impacts are legitimate considerations when determining whether or not a permit should be granted,” Mr Hall said.
Mr Hall said the Shire of South Gippsland had acted very responsibly in attaching the warning as a planning condition.
“The Shire needs to protect itself and the rate payers of South Gippsland against any future legal action,” Mr Hall said.
“It is the State Government which should now re-think its entire wind energy policy. Wind turbines in the numbers envisaged by the Government will have a major detrimental impact on landscape values, a major impact on nearby residential amenity, an environmental hazard for birdlife and produce comparatively little energy.
“The Government’s renewable energy policies should be targeted at those renewables that have less negative environmental impacts such as solar, geothermal and bio-fuels,” Mr Hall concluded.
Media contact: Peter Hall (03) 5174 7066
17 December 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/12/18/windfarms-devalue-land/