October 30, 2012
Australia

Warning about wind farm easements

Cimara Pearce | The Weekly Times | October 30, 2012 | www.weeklytimesnow.com.au

Western district landholders are being warned to take caution when negotiating wind farm easements for their property.

In a recent advertising campaign, Warrnambool-based Maddens Lawyers tells land owners they are not “powerless to question or reject the easement compensation deal offered by wind farms or their representatives”.

Wind farm representatives have been reportedly approaching local landholders with option agreements which create easements on their land allowing for joint access of the land for the land owner and the wind farm company.

Maddens Lawyer principal Erol Chakir said many of the first-round offers were skewed in favour of developers instead of land owners.

“To put it simply, these options agreements represent what the wind farm developers want and do not take in to account what the landowner may need or want,” Mr Chakir said.

“These agreements come with an offer of compensation as well.

“What a lot of landowners don’t realise, is both the option agreement and the financial compensation are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what landowners may be entitled to.”

Mr Chakir said higher compensation and more balanced agreements could be achieved by negotiation.

He urged any land owners who had been approached by wind farm developers to seek legal advice before signing any easement documents.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/10/30/warning-about-wind-farm-easements/