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The Select Committee on Wind Turbines recently completed its investigation and submitted a 322-page report. Among the evidence tendered, the “undue influence of wind farm companies.”
‘Some submitters provided evidence that communities had only 10 days in which to respond to development proposals, and stated that this was not enough time for people to research a complex issue and write comprehensively of their concerns.
This was compounded by the situation where projects were well into the late planning stages before communities became aware a wind farm was being proposed in their area.It reaffirms the point made in evidence by the Queensland Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning official: ‘The Department formed the view that we cannot say no to any wind farms.’
If those whirling rotors diminish the lives and comfort of human neighbours, birds and bats have even more reason to complain, not least for what one submission depicted as a deliberate campaign to minimise and hide avian casualties (emphasis added):
The monitoring and compliance of wind farms is an area that lacks any real support or desire for the truth from Government departments. The wind farm companies seem to have geared the monitoring approach to suit themselves, and are generally unopposed by regulatory authorities.
For instance, bird- and bat-mortality monitoring is structured to find minimal dead birds. AGL Macarthur employed a consultant to assess the mortality records, and they highlighted the fact that by the time the people [came] looking for the dead birds once a month, most had been carried away by predators and scavengers. Also they highlighted that only a small percentage of turbines are searched around anyway.
The consultant recommended that searches be done weekly and over more turbines. AGL did not adopt the consultant’s recommendations and has not changed their collection method. The consultant showed the actual mortality rates were likely to be 10 times higher than what AGL originally claimed in their permit application. The Moyne Shire is supposed to put conditions in place as part of their responsibility as Responsible Authority to limit the bird deaths, and the AGL wind farm should be shut down at peak bird times. However the Mayor and CEO are so supportive of wind farms that they will not even respond to letters making this request.
The report is well worth reading in full. It can be downloaded via the link below
