November 24, 2010
Australia

Pyrenees mayor warns on wind farms

Brendan Gullifer, The Courier, www.thecourier.com.au/ 25 November 2010

Rules governing wind farms must be overhauled, Pyrenees mayor David Clark has told a conference of wind energy executives.

Speaking at the $3000-a-seat event in Adelaide, Cr Clark called for better noise standards and the public release of data relating to wind farms.

Cr Clark said there was a “significant difference” between noise levels for normal wind farm operations and background noise in a rural agricultural environment without wind farms, particularly at night.

He said the State Department of Planning issued planning permits for wind farms but saw no role for itself to investigate wind farm issues on behalf of the community.

And councils were not well-enough resourced to undertake their own independent assessment of complaints about operational matters, he said.

Cr Clark said he confirmed local government’s support in general for the development of the wind industry.

“However, we as a sector believe the rules are not as good as they should be, both for new and existing projects,” he said. “It doesn’t need that much to fix it.”

According to a Victorian government website, the state has eight operating wind farms comprising 266 turbines.

Another 28 wind farms comprising 1322 turbines have been approved but are not yet operational.

Another 21 wind farms are in the feasibility stage.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/11/24/pyrenees-mayor-warns-on-wind-farms/