MEDIA RELEASE

14 March 2012

DRAFT NSW WIND FARM PLANNING GUIDELINES FAIL RURAL COMMUNITIES

The proposed new NSW Wind Farm Planning Guidelines create unfair restrictions on wind farm development and will particularly fail rural and regional communities. New England Wind has lodged its submission to the NSW Government today and is particularly concerned about how out-of-step these guidelines are with the views of the majority of NSW citizens, stated Adam Blakester, Projector Director for New England Wind. The proposed NSW Wind Farm Planning Guidelines have been prepared to provide a regulatory framework to guide investment in wind farms across NSW, while minimising and avoiding any potential impacts on local communities. New England Wind compliments the NSW Government for presenting a clear and thorough set of planning guidelines for wind farms, their continued commitment to the 20% Renewable Energy Target by 2020 and announcement of their work to develop a NSW Energy Strategy. However, there are significant concerns about how unfair the guidelines are towards wind farms compared with other energy developments and how restrictive they are for communityowned renewable energy projects. Community renewable energy projects will be wrongly restricted by these guidelines, continued Blakester. This kind of project, like New England Wind, brings together willing landholders, local investors and organisations to create a small-scale wind farm in a way that is supported and positive. Yet the conditions outlined in these guidelines will add costs and uncertainty without any real value for the community. The other problem is that the guidelines set a completely different set of rules for wind when compared with other energy developments. This creates an unfair playing field. Why is it that coal and coal seam gas operators can set up operations almost next door to homes while wind farms need to be half way to the horizon and quieter than a household fridge? New England Wind is calling on the NSW Government to exempt community-scale wind farms from the requirements for a Community Consultative Committee and to develop specific NSW Government policy to enable community-scale and community-owned renewable energy infrastructure. It is also requesting consistent application of noise limits with other energy developments and replacement of the arbitrary 2km set back rule with a merits-based process that ensures the siting of turbines takes into account real and legitimate effects only. New England Wind is working to become the first community-owned wind farm in NSW producing half of the residential electricity needs of the New England Tablelands. The project is led by a consortium of local community organisations and specialists in community renewable energy under the auspice of Starfish Enterprises. For more details contact Liz Gardiner | Renewable Energy Coordinator | 6778-7249 | info@newenglandwind.coop or go to www.newenglandwind.coop.

MEDIA CONTACT | ADAM BLAKESTER 02 6775 2501 | 0419 808 900

www.newenglandwind.coop New England Wind is an initiative of www.starfishenterprises.net