May 3, 2011
Australia

Wind farms – we'll be surrounded!

Crookwell Gazette, www.crookwellgazette.com.au 3 May 2011

If planned wind farms in Upper Lachlan Shire go ahead, Crookwell will be “surrounded” – north, east, south and west. Currently, Crookwell has Crookwell 1 wind farm to the east and Walwa and Cullerin wind farms to the south, – with another on the planning board for near Collector.

In addition, Crookwell 2 and Crookwell 3 wind farms have approval, but no real action to construct at present. Now Upper Lachlan Council is faced with two more large developments – Bango to the west and Golspie to the north.

If all these reach fulfilment, Upper Lachlan will be host to nearly 500 power generating turbines. The Bango wind farm is planned for an area on Upper Lachlan’s western boundary, taking in parts of Boorowa and Yass Shires.

It is adjacent to the Rye Park wind farm which is already on the drawing board. The Golspie wind farm will be located about 25 kilometres northeast of Crookwell, taking in areas near Fullerton, Golspie and Laggan.

Upper Lachlan Council was advised of the applications at their last meeting at Gunning. Planning Director Ms Tina Dodson told the meeting that the Planning Department had again been advised of Council’s Development Control Plan as it applies to wind farms.

This includes matters of setback from non-host residences and noise and visual factors. The Department has also been advised of two additional key issues as far as Council is concerned.

These are the impact of construction and operational traffic on existing gravel roads where dwellings are located with 250 metres, and the infra-sound levels that would occur on neighbouring non-host residences.

Upwards of a hundred turbines are planned for both Bango and Golspie wind farms. Developers for both wind farms are Wind Prospect CWP Ltd., which has five projects currently operating in South Australia, with another under construction and approval for five more.

CWP is a European company operating wind farms in Romania and Poland. The company has advised Upper Lachlan Council that it plans to be commissioning the turbines by 2015. Duration would be 20 years, when de-commissioning or repowering would be applied.

Thirty private properties are involved in the Bango development, while more than thirty are being investigated for the Golspie project. With reference to the Golspie plan, access would be required from local roads in the area.

The proposal mentions that sealed roads are available from Crookwell to the approximate centre of the project, the start of the Levels Road. Other possible locations include Taralga – Laggan Road, Golspie Road east and Fullerton Road north.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/05/03/wind-farms-well-be-surrounded/