It's been a long time coming but the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Paling Yards Wind Farm is finally here and on display.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The proposal is for the construction of up to 47 wind power towers just north of the southern boundary of Oberon Shire, straddling Abercrombie Road before the descent to the Abercrombie River. This project has been in the "planning" stages for over ten years, but consultation with the general Oberon community only started in late 2022.
The map below shows the location of the project and towers. (You can see a larger version here.)
Oberon Mayor Mark Kellam is both pleased and cautious.
"At last we have an idea of the scale of the project, but more importantly the amount of disruption that it could cause during the construction phase," he said.
"Just looking at the transport surveys to get the components to the site raises concerns."
It's not just transporting the very long blades and the road modifications that will be required but the effect on and possible damage to Abercrombie Road and other roads while bringing in construction materials such as gravel for concrete. It is estimated that there will be in excess of 6,000 truck movements just for aggregate alone.
"The documents about transport contain the detail and need to be understood," Mayor Kellam said.
As it is classed as a "State Significant Development", approval or rejection of the proposal can only come from the NSW Government, and while a local council can comment on this sort of development, councils have no veto power. Public opinion and concerns can have an effect, but submissions, objections and comments have to be lodged within a short timeframe.
The EIS for this proposal is currently on display at the NSW government Planning Portal, but only until November 6, so if you want to have a say about this you need to be quick. The EIS is 387 pages long and there is no way to summarise it properly, so allow plenty of time to become familiar with what is planned. As there are many pages of associated documentation, anyone making a submission needs to check to see if their concern has been addressed in either the EIS or related papers.
"Council will be making its own submission," Mayor Kellam said.
"But residents are welcome to send their submissions to Council for inclusion. While individual submissions can still be made, sending them through Council will let us have a better gauge of residents' attitudes."
It must be emphasised that this proposal is totally independent of the plan to put wind towers in state forests.
The only thing common between the two is that wind towers will be erected somewhere, and while there are some similar issues (transport and traffic disruption, for example) the arguments for and against the two proposals are very different.
