Media release – No Turbine Action Group, Central Highlands Tasmania, Sunday 31 October 2021
CATTLE HILL WIND FARM – STILL SOME QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
Chair of No Turbine Action Group (NTAG) Central Highlands said Cattle Hill Wind Farm has some positive points but also raises some questions.
This came during an open day by Clean Energy Council at Cattle Hill Wind Farm hosted by Goldwind Australia and 80% owned by PowerChina, an overseas government business. The Clean Energy Council used the event to promote wind turbines as part of the Tasmanian Government’s push for renewables that would see 89 wind farms the size of Granville Harbour across the state (30 in the Central Plateau/Midlands, 46 in NW and 13 in NE) under their 200% target.
“The plan for 89 new wind farms will harm the Tasmanian brand when built in the wrong spot – such as St Patricks Plains (only 7km away from Cattle Hill and on the main gateway roads into the Central Plateau) and Liawenee Moors next to the Great Lake.”
“Cattle Hill Wind Farm is in the right spot. It is away from the Lakes Highway which is the main Devonport- Hobart tourist route through the Central Plateau. The location of the Cattle Hill Wind Farm allows the Central Plateau to be kept unique and remote rather than industrialised and ordinary.” However, Cattle Hill Wind Farm still raises some questions.
“Identiflight, a camera-based detection system, looks promising to directly protect some wedge-tailed eagles from the blade but not from indirect impacts caused by wind farms – such as reduced breeding success due to disturbance from turbines and reduced prey from mass culling of wallabies and deer.”
“Buffers on nests, adopted by EPA to avoid disturbance, are out of date. The 1km size was developed 30 years ago to avoid line-of-sight disturbance from ground-based forestry operations and not for wind turbines now 270m high that tower over nests.
Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles are Australia’s largest raptor, nationally endangered, and with only an estimated 220 breeding pairs. Eagles need to be protected from indirect impacts as well as direct impacts. No approval to kill eagles should be given by EPA as permitted at Cattle Hill Wind Farm which can restart turbines if a cumulative 1% loss of total production time occurs from eagle shutdowns.”
NTAG is also concerned taxpayer subsidy of wind farms will spread from Cattle Hill across the state.
“Granville Harbour and Cattle Hill Wind Farms are subsidised by onerous contracts imposed on Aurora and HydroTasmania by the Premier to the tune of about $300M. Taxpayer funding would be better used for hospitals, not propping up unviable wind farms for power that goes to the mainland.”
According to NTAG lessons can be learnt from Cattle Hill. “It reminds us what can be done right; that No Turbine Zoning needs to be adopted across Tasmania to protect our unique landscape and brand; taxpayer subsidies for private investors and overseas government businesses need to end; Identiflight retrofitted to all wind farms if successful; and EPA must adopt up-to-date nest protection measures.
The No Turbine Action Group Inc (NTAG) was formed in 2019 in opposition to the planned St Patricks Plains Wind Farm development in the Central Plateau of Tasmania and 7km from Cattle Hill – because it is in the wrong location, has too many turbines (47), too high (240m or three times the height of Wrest Point Casino) and is next to gateway roads into the Central Plateau at Steppes Historic Site.
