General News
1 May, 2022
Residents Speaking Up Against The Proposed Wind Farms
KENNEDY MP, Bob Katter, attended a community meeting on the weekend in Tully.
Residents expressed their concerns about major wind farms proposed along the Great Dividing Range behind world heritage rainforests in North Queensland.
The developments include:
• The under-construction Kaban wind farm (28 turbines).
• The proposed Chalumbin wind farm (94 turbines).
• The proposed Mount Fox wind farm (97 turbines).
Mr Katter said he supported wind farms in locations like Hughenden, where there isn’t a high proliferation of birdlife, wildlife, and rainforest, but said he tenaciously opposed the projects along the Great Dividing Range.
“When you put it here, you are putting it beside the greatest proliferation of birdlife in the world,” Mr Katter said.
“The developers want to put these wind farms and their 70-meter-wide access roads on the tops of mountains which causes erosion.
“They are placing the wind farms here because it is on the existing transmission lines and cheap for them, but it sure is an expense for nature and our wildlife.
“The people in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane might not care about our wildlife, but we certainly do.”
Mr Katter said he supported a moratorium on wind farms being constructed beside world heritage rainforests along the Great Dividing Range.
In a recent letter, Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley confirmed that the Chalumbin and Upper Burdekin wind farms are being assessed under the EPBC Act and that the public will have a chance to have their say.
“What is our beautiful nature wonderland is being turned into an industrial wasteland,” he said.
“The opponents of these wind farms are making great progress.
“We’ve had three meetings with Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley, who can block these wind farms under the EPBC Act. She’s promised to come up to Ravenshoe.
“I put the wind farm developers on notice that they should notify their investors of these developments.
“The State Government has also told the developers of the Chalumbin wind farm that their environmental reports were not up to scratch and to redo them.
“If the State and Federal Governments are fair-dinkum about saving the planet, then they should build Copperstring transmission line between Townsville and Mount Isa and build the wind farms out west where there’s no rainforest or high proliferation of wildlife.”
