About 250 people crowded into the Nanneella public hall to hear Italian company Fera Australia outline its plans for one or possibly two wind farms in the region.
Several nearby residents spoke against the proposal and a few in the crowd shouted “go away!” to the speakers.
The speakers, Fera Australia director Andrew Lawson and senior project manager Cristiano Diaz, battled through the interjections and impromptu questions for more than two hours.
They outlined the process, which could take up to four years, and described how the project fitted with the national drive towards renewables.
The proposed project could power up to 200,000 homes.
Speakers in the crowd raised issues including the removal of the turbines at the end of their working life, noise generated by the turbines, visual effect on the landscape and compensation to the landholders and neighbours.
One woman told the meeting there were eight residents within 3km of the proposed area.
Fera Australia promised to establish a community consultative committee and to bring an acoustic expert to address a community meeting in the future.
“This is very much the start of the project,” Mr Lawson told the meeting.
“We wanted to give people the opportunity to hear what we were thinking.”
He said there were no agreements in place as yet, however he disclosed that preliminary discussions had been held with some property owners about 12 months ago and they had already met with Landcare members.
The company has been using mobile data recorders to check on weather conditions including wind strength in the Nanneella-Koyuga area.
One speaker pointed out that Nanneella is not in a Renewable Energy Zone, geographic areas identified by the Victorian Government as preferred locations for solar and wind farms.
Fera Australia is trying to establish a wind farm in the Strathbogie Ranges, but is facing opposition from a community group.
Mr Lawson said a total of 14 properties had been signed up.
Mr Diaz said the Fera company had been building wind generators for 20 years in Europe.
Each turbine generated about seven megawatts of power
One of the local community members told the meeting: “We have been farming this land for almost 200 years. We don’t want someone to come along and stuff it up.”
The project
- Twenty to 25 turbines, up to 250 metres in total height in the Nanneella-Koyuga area.
- Possibly 20 to 25 turbines south-west of Rushworth up to 250m in height.
- Turbines placed on land leased from the property owners.
- Two projects connected by overhead power lines.
- Removal and rehabilitation of land at the end of the project life.
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