February 22, 2013
Australia

Burnside seeks support to have wind turbines banned from suburban backyards

Emma Altschwager | Eastern Courier Messenger | February 22, 2013 | www.adelaidenow.com.au

Wind turbines should be banned from suburban backyards, Burnside Council says.

The council has been lobbying the State Government to close a planning loophole that allows wind turbines up to 10m tall to be erected without development approval.

It now plans to use the Local Government Association’s general meeting in April to ask fellow councils to support its push to have wind turbines banned from backyards.

Cr Mark Osterstock told a recent meeting wind turbines were not suitable for suburban backyards.

“Anyone, anywhere in metropolitan Adelaide can erect a 10m wind turbine without an application at all,” Cr Osterstock said.

“I don’t think the vast majority of residents would support this sort of development being unregulated.”

Cr Robert Hasenohr supported the move.

“They’re a visual intrusion, a height intrusion and a noise intrusion,” Cr Hasenohr told the meeting.

Cr Osterstock later told the Eastern Courier Messenger he hoped other councils would back Burnside’s push.

The issue came to a head when Wattle Park resident Don Evangelista applied to the council in September to put a 6m wind turbine on his Redounau Crescent property.

The council sought legal advice that revealed under the Development Act wind turbines under 10m did not need council approval.

Eastern residents groups have also called for tougher planning laws for wind turbines, amid fears they would be an eyesore, noisy and a threat to wildlife.

Burnside Council’s bid to close the loophole has been rejected twice by the Planning Department.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/22/burnside-seeks-support-to-have-wind-turbines-banned-from-suburban-backyards/