June 9, 2016
Australia

Landholders hold their breath on wind farm

Rhiannon Tuffield | South Burnett Times | 9th Jun 2016 | www.southburnetttimes.com.au

A Cooranga North farmer is able to breathe a sigh of relief now the State Government has backed the proposed Coopers Gap Wind Farm.

Residents between Kingaroy and Dalby have been encouraged to submit their views on the project to an independent co-ordinator conducting the assessment.

Some residents have been concerned about health concerns caused by wind farms, but no sufficient evidence has been reported to back the claims.

Cattle farmer Cyril Stewart is one of 10 landholders involved in the project and has remained positive since he was approached a decade ago.

As one of the hosting farms, he will benefit from the amount of kilowatts generated each year.

“It’s sort of changed the ball game a bit now we seem to have government support,” Mr Stewart said.

“It’s still only a media release, but I’m pleased it’s happened and it seems we’re one step closer to this becoming a reality.”

Mr Stewart said there were people against the project but the waters had seemed to calm.

But another farmer, Jim Scutt, remained sceptical.

The Cooranga North grazier moved to the area three years ago and has regularly displayed concern about the project.

He said he had almost given up hope fighting against the proposal.

“I think we’ll try to keep fighting on it but I suppose on one hand we’ll eventually have to sell up and move somewhere else,” Mr Scutt said.

“I don’t want to pack up and go but it’s looking like it’ll be a reality.

“We’ll just have to see how it goes in the next couple of months.

“They’ve split this community in two and I think in the long run it’s not going to mix – it’ll cause a virtual shut down of the community.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/06/09/landholders-hold-their-breath-on-wind-farm/