October 11, 2011
New Zealand

Concerns over planned wind farm

Alex Fensome, The Southland Times, www.stuff.co.nz 11 October 2011

A proposed wind farm near Bluff would be able to be seen from Invercargill and Riverton, a resident said yesterday.

Bluff Community Board member Charles Te Au said he was undecided on the project.

“I’m not keen on looking at them but then again I understand where they are coming from with sustainability … you’ll be able to see it everywhere from Invercargill through to Riverton.”

Bluff is known as an industrial town, but Mr Te Au said its demographic was changing.

“There’s a high older population and though it’s a port for Southland, it also needs to be a destination, rather than dumping everything here saying it’s only Bluff.”

Energy3 held a public open day in Bluff for residents to come and view plans and discuss the wind farm idea yesterday.

Another long-time resident of Flat Hill, near Bluff, says she is concerned the community has not been able to talk about the wind farm planned on the hill, despite the open day being held.

Louise Fowler said Bluff residents did not know much about Energy3’s plan for an eight-turbine wind farm.

“It’s going under the radar, so to speak,” she said.

However, she said the open day meant people would come in dribs and drabs rather than all being present at a public meeting.

“They are the community that is going to be looking at this thing on the hill,” she said.Energy3 director Warren McNabb said some residents were concerned about the noise. However, there were strict noise standards covering wind farms in New Zealand.

“If you breach you have to turn your turbines off.”

Energy3 specialised in small wind farms, but it was fair to say the Bluff project was the largest it had taken on, he said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/11/concerns-over-planned-wind-farm/