Australian wind farm gets go ahead after scale down
30 Oct 2010
In Australia, the $1 billion Stockyard Hill Wind Farm west of Ballarat is set to emerge as the biggest wind energy project in Victoria with planning minister Justin Madden yesterday approving three planning permits for the 157-turbine project.
The original application involved 242 turbines, but according to Madden, planning permission for 85 wind turbines was refused due to the impact on the nearby Brolga population and the neighbouring historic Mawallock homestead.
According to Madden the approved wind turbines had a combined capacity for generation of up to 471MW of renewable energy per year, which is enough to power in excess of 250,000 homes.
Energy company Origin, the project promoter, struck out 30 turbines during public hearings.
Fourteen turbines were struck off as they would have marred the view from Mawallok, a historic homestead with gardens crafted by 19th-century landscaper William Guilfoyle.
This is the first instance of wind turbines being rejected due to their impact on the outlook from a heritage property.
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