May 27, 2014
Australia

Lawyers issue nuisance complaint against Macarthur

May 27, 2014 | www.theaustralian.com.au

A law firm has called on Moyne Shire in southwestern Victoria to order AGL Energy’s giant Macarthur wind farm to stop at night, citing noise concerns, The Warrnambool Standard reports.

According to the newspaper, firm Piper Alderman, representing residents, have labelled the 140-turbine wind farm “a serious risk to public health”, saying it had an obligation to take action after receiving 20 official complaints from residents last year.

“Our clients consider that the council has a duty, not only to remedy the nuisance detailed in the notifications in accordance with the act [Public Health and Wellbeing Act], but also a duty of common law to protect our clients from reasonably-foreseeable harm,” the firm said in a letter to the council, The Standard reports.

The council has begun investigating the nuisance complaints, the newspaper reports,with the shire’s energy and major projects co-ordinator Russell Guest saying it had to ensure the wind farm complied with noise standards set out in the original planning permit, adding that councils were being left to resolve complex and little understood matters relating to wind farms.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/05/27/lawyers-issue-nuisance-complaint-against-macarthur/