May 16, 2012
Australia

Check call in the wind

Lyndal Reading, The Weekly Times, www.weeklytimesnow.com.au 17 May 2012

A Victorian council wants the Health Department to investigate claims about wind farms.

Pyrenees Shire has resolved to ask the Municipal Association of Victoria to write to the Chief Health Officer on behalf of a group of councils dealing with wind farm issues.

The group includes Moorabool, Ballarat, Moyne and Ararat.

Pyrenees Shire made the resolution after receiving complaints from residents near the 128-turbine Waubra Wind Farm, relating to low-frequency and sub-audible noise.

The MAV said it was yet to receive the letter.

Pyrenees Mayor John Quinn said monitoring the noise was “far above our level and needs to be handled by people with the expertise, and that’s the Department of Health”.

He said noise complaints were an ongoing issue that should be dealt with by the Victorian Government.

The council wrote to the Chief Health Officer last December requesting a health impact assessment on the Waubra wind farm.

The Health Department said there was no need for another assessment because a recent review by the National Health and Medical Research Council found there were no adverse health effects from wind farms.

The Pyrenees Shire’s call comes ahead of a meeting on May 31 between Planning Minister Matthew Guy, the wind farm councils and the MAV.

“We’re meeting with the minister to thrash out concerns,” Cr Quinn said.

Meanwhile, AGL has denied rumours the rent it pays to landowners for hosting turbines will drop due to the carbon tax reducing the value of Renewable Energy Certificates.

An REC is equivalent to one megawatt hour of electricity generation and can be traded for cash.

The value of the REC is subject to market conditions.

“AGL would like to confirm that wind farm rent on its wind farms will not be affected after a price on carbon has been introduced,” an AGL spokeswoman said .

“Any suggestion otherwise is false,” she said.

Acciona also said the rumours were inaccurate.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/16/check-call-in-the-wind/