August 20, 2015
Australia

Developers of Rye Park wind farm promise to bolster consultation

NSW wind farm size reduced | By Gavin Coote | ABC News | 20 August 2015 | www.abc.net.au

The company behind a proposed wind farm in southern New South Wales is planning to bolster its community consultation in a bid to ease landholders’ concerns.

Trustpower has been reviewing almost 120 public submissions on its Rye Park Wind Farm near Boorowa and is finalising its formal response.

The spokesman Rontheo Van Zyl says a consistent theme in the feedback is a concern that direct neighbours will not benefit from the project.

He said they would begin holding talks with landholders to gauge their interest in receiving compensation to offset the impacts.

“In fact we’re focusing on meeting anybody and everybody within, say, three kilometres of the wind farm in the next few months to consult and ensure they’re aware of the project, the changes we’ve made,” Mr Van Zyl said.

“But as part of that we’ll also be visiting any of the eligible dwellings with the proposal, to see if there’s any interest in taking up the offer and, yes, there will be a voluntary planning agreement.”

Mr Van Zyl said the project’s layout has been changed to ensure it would not negatively impact on landholders.

“As part of that we’ve also reduced the number of turbines from 126 to 109,” Mr Van Zyl said.

“We’ve also included an additional connection option for the wind farm, so that we could introduce flexibility for potential staging of the project depending on the market availability.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/08/20/developers-of-rye-park-wind-farm-promise-to-bolster-consultation/