ONE of two companies behind a wind farm proposal south of Oberon says it wants to "listen to everyone in the community" and has rejected criticism that it is using an "aggressive direct approach" to landowners.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Stromlo Energy is - with TagEnergy - investigating the viability of a wind farm in softwood plantations in the Oberon area.
TagEnergy would be the owner-operator if The Pines Wind Farm proceeds, while Stromlo is "leading all activities prior to the start of construction".
The Oberon Against Wind Towers (OAWT) group - which will be holding a community meeting on June 27 on the matter and which plans to run candidates in the next local government election - has accused Stromlo of going "around town flogging off giant wind towers on private land".
OAWT also says Stromlo is trying to "corral" individual landowners rather than meeting and explaining the project to the community.
Oberon mayor Mark Kellam put out a press release on June 7 saying he was concerned about reports of Stromlo asking landowners about wind towers on private land, which he said was outside the scope of the agreement made with Forestry Corporation.
Forestry Corporation has awarded a number of permits for companies to investigate the viability of wind farms in softwood plantations, including at Sunny Corner, near Bathurst.
"Stromlo Energy wants to meet and listen to everyone in the community, especially those nearby to the Forestry agreement area," Stromlo director Matthew Parton told the Advocate.
"The Forestry agreement does not restrict Stromlo from discussing neighbour payments, or potential hosting opportunities with neighbouring landholders.
"Receiving neighbour payments and hosting infrastructure is a way for farming landowners to diversify their incomes and landowners have the right to choose who they talk to and what forms of income they want for their farms."
Mayor's concerns
IN a follow-up press release on June 14, Oberon mayor Cr Kellam said he had met with representatives from Stromlo and Tag "to discuss previous concerns I had received from the community regarding how initial representation from the group had been portrayed within the community".
"At the meeting, I indicated that at no time was Council informed that projects were being considered beyond the parameters of the previously defined State Forest Land and I made that very clear in our conversation," he said in his press release.
Cr Kellam described the discussion with Stromlo as "productive and open" and said Stromlo "acknowledged the concerns raised by Council and indicated that they [will] look at the way further consultation is conducted".
"A letter has been drafted to the Forestry Minister stating Council's concern regarding the apparent scope creep in this project," Cr Kellam said.
History lesson
OBERON Against Wind Towers has described Stromlo as a company that has "no notable shareholders, no history, no accomplishments and was only established 15 months ago".
Mr Parton, in response to those criticisms, said he had personally led 1000MW of projects "through development and into operation", including the Victorian Big Battery, while Stromlo's project director, Joanna Murphy, had led the most recently approved wind farm in NSW, Thunderbolt Wind Farm.
The Victorian Big Battery is a 300MW grid-scale storage project in Geelong, while the Thunderbolt Wind Farm is between Bendemeer and Uralla in northern NSW.
As well, Mr Parton said Stromlo has "two Bathurst-based staff committed to the project, and available to meet people in the region", is "100 per cent Australian-owned and 100 per cent staff owned" and "project directors, company directors, company founders, and decision-makers are all available for meetings".
In terms of the criticism that Stromlo is trying to corral each affected landowner, Mr Parton said Stromlo is "offering landowners many ways of engaging with us", including "through our drop-in sessions, in small groups or one-on-one".
"One-on-one meetings give people an opportunity to have their views heard in a private setting and have questions answered directly," he said.
Mr Parton said Stromlo had, since Forestry Corporation's announcement on May 23 about issuing permits to look at state forests, "had staff in the community on almost every day, presented to councillors on three occasions, and by the end of July will have hosted four community drop-in sessions".
"Additionally, we are already providing project benefits."
An example, he said, is an electricity bill credit in which Oberon local government area households can claim $100 per year off their power bill.
Oberon Against Wind Towers, meanwhile, says the "so-called consultation process associated with these wind tower projects is nothing but a sham - it is simply box-ticking tokenism" and Oberon residents are "not the type of people who will sacrifice their way of life for a bit of a handout".
The group says it will hold a community meeting at 6pm on June 27 in the Oberon RSL at which it will provide an update on what it describes as "the disgraceful behaviour of Forestry/Stromlo".
Oberon Against Wind Towers says it will also be introducing the nine candidates it will put forward at the Oberon local government election in September.
Stromlo has held a community drop-in session in the Black Springs Community Hall on June 20 and will hold another one on June 22 and further sessions in the Oberon Library and Community Centre on July 25 and 27.
Battlegrounds
THE opposition to the proposed wind farm south of Oberon is a continuation of recent renewable energy project battles around Bathurst.
Action groups were formed to oppose solar farms on Eleven Mile Drive near Eglinton and at Glanmire, on Bathurst's eastern outskirts, while the Friends of the Fish River group was put together to fight a proposed pumped hydro project near Yetholme.
The Glanmire project, which is opposed by state Member for Bathurst Paul Toole, has been approved with conditions, while an environmental impact statement for the proposed pumped hydro project has been deferred.
It is also not supported by the state member.
New polling, meanwhile, showed nearly two-thirds of people in regional NSW and half of regional Victorians were worried about the impact of large-scale renewable projects on wildlife and the environment.
Over three days in early May and late April, pollsters at Essential Media surveyed 1126 people across four states on behalf of ZEN Energy, to find out how they felt about the transition.
