December 22, 2011
Australia
Australia
Thirty Blayney residents say blow the wind farm
By Erin Somerville, Central Western Daily, www.centralwesterndaily.com.au 21 December 2011
By Erin Somerville, Central Western Daily, www.centralwesterndaily.com.au 21 December 2011
Over 30 individual submissions from Blayney residents have been handed in to the Department of Planing objecting to the proposed Flyers Creek wind farm development.
Submissions regarding the $200 million development involving around 44 turbines constructed closed on Monday.
The department received around 70 submission in total regarding the development.
Representatives from the Flyers Creek Wind Turbine Awareness Group Incorporated (FCWTAG) told the Central Western Daily they had met with representatives from the Department of Planning on Monday to hand in their 326-page submission, along with around 30 other individual submissions on behalf of Blayney residents.
Group spokesperson and Carcoar resident Dr Alan Watts was confident in the group’s submission.
“We had a very good hearing with the Department of Planning,” he said.
“We presented them with our rebuttal to Infigen’s environmental assessment (EA) and we put forward all of our concerns.”
Dr Watts said a major concern highlighted in the group’s submission was the amount of sound that would be produced by the wind turbines.
Potential health issues were also included in the submission following concerns that infrasound and the flicker effect could create debilitating symptoms in nearby residents such as headaches, nausea, sleeplessness and anxiety.
“Our big concern of course is the health implications,” Dr Watts said.
“This is simply not the correct place to have a wind farm.
“There are too many people and too many health issues.”
Currently there are no regulations regarding infrasound for wind farm developments.
The group has lobbied in the submission for the wind farm industry to conduct more independent research into these potential health effects, rather than at the expense of taxpayers through the government.
Infigen has hit back at concerns highlighted in the group’s submission.
The company’s senior development manager Jonathon Upson said the wind farm would be subject to extensive independent noise compliance testing.
This testing must be reviewed and approved by the state government once the wind farm is built to ensure acoustic compliance.
Mr Upson also dismissed the group’s concerns regarding infrasound and health effects.
“The CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) at their testimony at the Senate wind farm inquiry earlier this year stated that they had searched the two largest worldwide databases for any studies documenting detrimental health impacts from wind turbines and they could not find a single one,” he said.
“There are Australian studies and peer-reviewed scientific studies actually measuring infrasound levels from wind farms,” he said.
“If the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation could not find any studies to substantiate the myth that wind turbines make people sick, then I think it’s safe to say there aren’t any.”
The CSIRO has publicly refused to form a view on wind turbine syndrome.
The organisation has not conducted its own research on the issue.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/12/22/thirty-blayney-residents-say-blow-the-wind-farm/