August 1, 2022
Australia

Ruffy residents discuss wind farm

By Geoff Adams | Country News | Aug 1, 2022 | www.countrynews.com.au

Residents in the Ruffy community are pondering how to deal with a proposal to build a large wind farm in their region – or even whether they want one.

A series of community meetings have been held to discuss the proposal by the Italian multi-national energy company, FERA.

The proposal has been under wraps for some time, while the company negotiates with landowners, which has annoyed some residents who did not appreciate being kept in the dark.

Ruffy residents got together to discuss the proposal at a community meeting on July 24, which formed the Strathbogie Tableland Wind Farm Task Force to represent the community.

A site has not been settled on yet, and the proposed wind farm could fall within Mitchell, Murrundindi or Strathbogie shires.

Strathbogie Shire is not in the Victorian Government’s Renewable Energy Zones for wind farms, but that does not stop a developer from proposing a new farm in the municipality.

The shire has also been beset by black-outs because of the state of the current power infrastructure.

Strathbogie Shire Mayor Laura Binks said council had not received any formal or informal notification from DELWP in relation to any application for wind energy facilities in the municipality.

The state’s planning minister is the responsible authority for new planning permit applications for all energy generation facilities that are one megawatt or greater. DELWP manages this process on behalf of the minister.

“Reliable power supply is one of council’s top advocacy priorities,” Cr Binks said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/08/01/ruffy-residents-discuss-wind-farm/