General News
17 May, 2023
“It’s disappointing…”
A PROPOSED wind farm in Garvoc left Corangamite and Moyne councils expressing shock and disappointment due to a lack of consultation with community and local government.
A PROPOSED wind farm in Garvoc left Corangamite and Moyne councils expressing shock and disappointment due to a lack of consultation with community and local government.
Moyne Shire Council made an announcement last Friday expressing disappointment a planning permit application for Swansons Lane Wind Farm had been lodged with the Minister for Planning without prior consultation with the community or council.
Council officers claimed to have had minimal information about the planned wind farm until the application was lodged.
Developer RE Future outlined up to six turbine generators with a combined capacity of around 40 megawatts to be based between Coyles Lane and Sisters-Garvoc Road. Of the six turbines, three would be based in Corangamite and three in Moyne.
Moyne Shire mayor Karen Foster issued a rebuke of the process, saying while council had no formal approval role in the application process she felt it went against normal process for a developer to not engage with council or undertake community engagement prior to lodging an application.
“On a broader scale, that hasn’t happened in this situation. The first anyone knew about this was when the application was lodged with the Minister,” she said.
“I’m sure they have engaged with the landowners who will host turbines, but there has been no engagement with the wider community.
"It’s disappointing and goes to the point we have been making about social license for wind farms being non-existent. Actions like this don’t help the situation." - Cr Karen Foster
“Council will make a submission to the application process which includes real and meaningful engagement with the community.”
Corangamite Shire mayor Ruth Gstrein also expressed disappointment with the lack of consultation.
“It shows a complete lack of respect for the people of Garvoc who are going to be impacted by this,” she said.
“Developers need to get out there and speak about their projects, speak about the benefits, and address the issues of the community rather than surprising people.
“We’re not the responsible authority, our role is just to put forward our case, and we will certainly be including that there was no community consultation prior to the application being lodged and raising that concern with the Minister.”
Cr Foster said now the planning permit application has been lodged, it would immediately impact all land within one kilometre of the boundary of the site.
“This now means for all land in the farming zone, a planning permit will be required for any proposed dwelling, extension to existing dwellings, accommodation uses and rural worker housing,” she said.
“It’s disappointing that the residents around the proposed development haven’t been consulted or engaged and now they have restrictions placed on them.”
RE Future project director Severin Staalesen confirmed the company had not informed Corangamite or Moyne until the same day the application was lodged, but said the company had altered its process based on previous experience with council and as a protective measure.
“Wind farm proponents used to notify local councils earlier in the development process - as indeed we used to do - however, unfortunately, in recent times certain members of the community have sought to stymie renewable energy projects by gaming the planning system during this early phase of the development process, and as a result it’s no longer feasible for us to notify councils as early as we used to,” he said.
“It wasn’t that long ago that, in relation to another project, a local council in our region told us that we started the consultation process too early because we didn’t have a clear picture of the project when we first notified residents of the proposal, which in turn was due to the fact that we hadn’t finished all our studies.
"Frankly, we’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t." - Severin Staalesen
Mr Staalesen said a community consultation program began from this week with information packages being delivered to all households within a five-kilometre radius of a proposed turbine location, in addition to unsolicited house visits to all dwellings within three kilometres.
“The community will be given every opportunity to acquaint themselves with the proposal before a decision is made by the Minister for Planning,” he said.
“Corangamite Shire Council and Moyne Shire Council know as well as we do that the planning process for this wind farm will take many months, if not years, meaning there will be plenty of time for local residents to read the planning application and prepare a submission in response to it should they wish to do so.
“As with all wind farm planning permit applications, the Department of Transport and Planning will seek input from local residents at the appropriate time in the planning process, and at that time all documentation relating to the planning application will be made available for download from the project website.
“We will also make ourselves available to anyone who wants to speak with us about the project. We value face to face engagement and will visit anyone who asks us to.”
RE Future also announced a community benefits scheme consisting of annual payments to nearby dwellings, a community fund for community projects and an education fund for primary and secondary schools.
Mr Staalesen said the proposed benefits program would be flexible despite the amount the company was willing to provide already being among the “more generous” in the industry.
“We want to talk to local residents before finalising the details of the community benefit scheme so that we can tailor it to their preferences,” he said.
“However, what we can say already is that the total amount that will be dedicated to community benefit sharing will be over $750 per megawatt, which I understand makes it one of the more generous schemes in the industry and also close to the amount the Moyne Shire are asking for.”
RE Future has stated the location was selected due to its undisturbed, consistent flow of strong wind, the close proximity to the electricity grid, setbacks from dwellings, minimal impact on flora and fauna, and easy access for construction.
Mr Staalesen said another benefit was no new transmission lines would need to be built.
“One of the reasons we chose this site was because there is an existing powerline that we can connect into which runs directly adjacent to it,” he said.
For more information visit swansonslanewindfarm.com.au.