I AM so tired of the bleeding heart argument from the pro-wind farm lobby who continue to deny any ill effects from wind turbines (“Farmer’s Right to Choose Wind”, Central Western Daily, Saturday, August 25).
The facts are out there which show that some people who live near inappropriately sited wind turbines are being badly affected. These effects are well documented and can be viewed by anybody with access to the net.
As to the rights of the farmer, we are not talking about small structures here that are confined to their particular piece of Australia; we are talking about a structure that stands 150 metres tall (equivalent to a 45-storey building) which has the ability to impede their neighbour’s quality of life and property values.
Currently, the law in NSW allows these large energy companies to position these massive structures on the host farmer’s land just 500 metres away from a dwelling (theirs and their neighbours).
The host farmer is remunerated and patted on the back for being a good citizen, yet his neighbour is not even consulted during the process. I don’t think that anyone begrudges the money that the host farmer makes out of the deal, but when their gain is at their neighbour’s expense, it’s not only wrong but downright un-Australian.
Wind energy is a totally ineffective means of generating electricity.
The numbers thrown around in its support are purely based on capacity, not output, which falls a long way short of it.
Conventional power stations cannot be replaced by this technology, but instead are needed as a constant backup.
The massive taxpayer handouts by this government to the wind industry is reminiscent of their failed pink batt scheme.
The trouble is, however, that these massive concrete and metal turbine towers are going to be a lot harder to remove.
Di Colman,
Orange
