Locals are outraged over a proposed wind turbine installation in the Blue Mountains arguing that the 300-metre towers flood the area with bright lights.
If approved by the NSW government, the Pines Wind Farm will install 250 wind turbines, each 300 metres tall, approximately 15 kilometres south of the town of Obero, at the base of the Blue Mountains.
Despite locals being offered up to $80,000 a year to have the wind towers built near them, which will be tallest ever built in Australia, opposition remains strong and deep-seated.
Local activist group Oberon Against Wind Towers NSW have started a petition to stop the development they claim would ruin ‘the ambiance’ of the town and surrounding area.
‘Oberon is one of the last rural areas closest to Sydney it just doesn’t make sense to come here and carpet bomb the community with 250, 300 metre wind towers on the edge of the Blue Mountains UNESCO area,’ spokesperson Chris Muldoon told Nine news.
‘This is about protecting the ambience of the Blue Mountains.’
With the wind turbines roughly the same as central Sydney’s Centrepoint Tower, Mr Muldoon was also concerned about the blinking red aviation safety lights the structures would need with a new airport being built nearby.
‘It’s going to light up the Blue Mountains like Luna Park every night,’ he said
Locals in the Blue Mountains are fighting a proposal to build one of Australia’s biggest wind farms in their region
A petition opposing the wind farm and labelling it a ‘disaster’ had on Tuesday morning gathered over 8000 signatures towards its goal of 10,000.
‘The Blue Mountains are one of the most sacred natural destinations in the world, and a beloved tourism destination for millions of local and international visitors,’ the petition states.
‘But this is not just about noise and visual pollution, the Blue Mountains provide significant representation of Australia’s biodiversity and are also home to a considerable number of rare or threatened species.
‘Of equal concern is the extreme bushfire danger that comes with putting highly flammable wind towers inside highly combustible pine forests, and the frightening and far-reaching consequences of even a single wind tower catching fire.
‘This is a project that doesn’t make sense.’
Stromlo Energy, who are developing the project for European owners TagEngery, insist the site won’t be disruptive.
‘The project isn’t in the Blue Mountains … it’s in a pine plantation 15km south of Oberon,’ Stromlo Energy Director Matthew Parton told Nine.
Oberon local Chris Muldoon says the proposed wind towers will ruin ‘the ambience’ of the Blue Mountains
The proposed Pines Wind Farm will see 250 of the 300 metre towers erected at the foot of the iconic Blue Mountains in NSW
‘The location is ideal, we’ve got very good wind speeds, we’ve got an introduced pine forest that’s got very little native flora and fauna in it.
‘There’s an existing transmission line that runs through the site, which means we don’t need to build an extensive overhead transmission line.’
Mr Parton says the wind farm will reduce the risk of bushfire because the towers neutralise lightning strikes.
When fully operating the wind farm would provide enough electricity to power a million homes.
