June 28, 2011
Australia

Wind farm may not adhere to '2km rule'

ABC News, /www.abc.net.au 28 June 2011

The renewable energy company, Epuron, says there are relatively few homes within 2kms of its proposed development near Glen Innes.

Public submissions for the proposed 119-turbine White Rock Wind Farm have closed.

Glen Innes Severn Council says it understands its assessment is not binding, but wants turbines to be at least 2kms away from any existing homes

Epuron’s Construction Manager, Andrew Wilson, says there is a better way to minimise noise impacts.

He says the company will continue to base its noise impact statements on South Australian guidelines.

“They are the guidelines imposed by the Department of Planning and are the regulations that we have to comply with,” he said.

“There’s 119 turbines in the development and we have done a detailed noise impact assessment based on that turbine layout.”

Mr Wilson says the company is not interested in placing turbines on the basis of an “arbitrary distance”.

“We would much rather address the issue directly, whether it’s noise or any other potential impact, rather than rely on an arbitrary distance like 2km,” he said.

“In other words, if it’s a noise issue, we would rather carry out the appropriate noise assessment to ensure that the noise from the wind farm meets all the required limitations.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/06/28/wind-farm-may-not-adhere-to-2km-rule/