From: Andrew Lothian Sent: Thursday, 22 August 2019 11:36 AM To: SA Planning Commission Subject: ACK'D 22/8 - LH to save in KNET - Renewable Energy Policy Attachments: Wind farm report.pdf Discussion Paper on Proposed Changes to Renewable Energy Policy in the Planning and Design Code I have a particular interest in the visual impact of wind farms, having conducted several surveys, using public preferences, of their visual impact, both here in South Australia and interstate. I attach a copy of the report of the 2018 survey which showed a high level of support for wind farms, even in areas of relatively high landscape quality. I note that the Discussion Paper states: “current planning policies do not specifically restrict solar farms from being developed in more environmentally sensitive zones or where landscape character attributes are more prominent and worthy of greater protections.” While this relates to solar farms, it should apply equally to wind farms. The Paper also states: “The Significant Landscape Protection Overlay will identify significant landscapes in which wind farms are discouraged.” South Australia’s coast is an important landscape resource with areas of the high landscape quality including the west coast of Eyre Peninsula, parts of Kangaroo Island and the South East. I conducted research to measure and map the State’s coastal viewscapes for the Coast Protection Board and the report is available at my website: www.scenicsolutions.world/projects There is a real risk that in the future, large scale wind farms will become viable on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula and as this contains some of South Australia’s most outstanding landscapes, this would affect them adversely. It is therefore essential that any wind farm be set well back from the coast. The Discussion Paper proposes a setback of 2 km, plus 10 metres per additional metre over 150 metres in overall turbine height from township zones and the like. I propose that the same provision apply to the entire State’s coastline. It may be necessary to increase this setback in clifftop coastlines such as occur on the west coast and on the northern coast of Kangaroo Island. Recommendation That the 2km setback proposed for towns apply also to the entire South Australian coast with provision to increase this in coasts of high landscape quality. Dr Andrew Lothian Director Scenic Solutions 1 A COMMUNITY SURVEY OF THE VISUAL IMPACT AND ACCEPTABILITY OF WIND FARMS IN AUSTRALIA DR ANDREW LOTHIAN SCENIC SOLUTIONS 2018 A Community Survey of the Visual Impact and Acceptability of Wind Farms in Australia Lothian, A., 2018. A community survey of the visual impact and acceptability of wind farms in Australia. Scenic Solutions, Adelaide, Australia. © Scenic Solutions Unley, Adelaide, South Australia, 5061 E: M: I: www.scenicsolutions.world Cover photo: The old and the new. Apart from using wind, there is little in common between farm windmills and wind turbines. Waterloo wind farm, Mid North, South Australia Dr Andrew Lothian, Scenic Solutions Page ii A Community Survey of the Visual Impact and Acceptability of Wind Farms in Australia A COMMUNITY SURVEY OF THE VISUAL IMPACT AND ACCEPTABILITY OF WIND FARMS IN AUSTRALIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dr Andrew Lothian, Scenic Solutions Fifteen years after completing the author’s first dominate, but for visitors and more distant study of the visual impact of wind farms in residents, the visual appearance of the wind South Australia, the current survey covered farms is the main factor followed by concerns actual wind farms in NSW, Victoria and SA for wildlife. Ensuring effective two-way and drew participants in the survey from communication between the community and across Australia. the developer, and enhancing local integration of the developer with the community can help Dimensions of wind farms to develop the trust which is a pre-requisite for a social licence to operate. The report commences by describing the growth of wind farms in Australia, growing from 2003 study virtually none in 2000 to over 60 today with 2,500 turbines producing 5% of Australia’s The author’s 2003 study found that on the electricity. This is matched globally where wind coast and in higher quality inland landscapes, farms now generate nearly 540 GW of wind farm reduced the scenic quality. electricity annually (Australia’s total electricity However, the study also found that where the generating capacity is 44 GW). As well as their scenic quality drops below about 5, the wind growth in numbers, another factor contributing farm actually lifts ratings by adding interest to their visual impact is their growth in size. In and diversity into the landscape. the 1980s wind turbines were 50 m in height with 10 – 15 m blades. Now they are 125 – Threshold of visual acceptability 150 m in height with blades 50 m+. A key issue is the threshold at which Visual impacts perception of the wind farm shifts from being acceptable to unacceptable. Both its The visual impact of wind farms has led to magnitude (size and number) and its visual some European nations placing them in significance are important factors in coastal seas and estuaries. determining this. Statistical measures have been used to help determine this threshold but Research on the effect of distance on the with limited success. perception of wind farms is summarised and their effect on property values examined. Project purpose & objective Australian opinion surveys of wind farms are The purpose of the project was to investigate summarised; 21 surveys show 75% support whether it was possible to determine the wind farms. Overseas experience regarding thresholds at which the visual acceptability of community opinion is also summarised. wind farms shifts from being acceptable to unacceptable. Opposition in Australia has been led by landscape guardians who contest about half of The project had three specific objectives: the proposals. Some lead to litigation but out of 17 cases brought before appeal courts in 1. To derive a model with Australia-wide NSW, Victoria and SA, only two were rejected applicability of their visual impact. and one of these was subsequently approved 2. To confirm the findings of the 2003 study in an amended form thus indicating that that wind farms diminish the scenic quality litigation is an ineffective instrument for of high-quality landscapes while enhancing opponents to use. the scenic quality of low-quality Social acceptance landscapes; 3. To determine a threshold of acceptability/ Research has shown the social acceptance of unacceptability of the proposed wind farms. wind farms, not their technology is the main limiting factor to wind farm development. Many Images factors influence the acceptance of wind farms by the community. For nearby wind farms, Criteria for photographing wind farms included noise and their effects on property values photographing them from a similar distance, Dr Andrew Lothian, Scenic Solutions Page i A Community Survey of the Visual Impact and Acceptability of Wind Farms in Australia using the 50 mm focal length, taking the proportion of females than males were photographs in winter so the ground cover was opposed to wind farms. green in all images, and taking the photographs in horizontal format. Some 31 Compared with the Australian population, wind farms in SA, Victoria and NSW were participants’ age, gender, birthplace and photographed in August, 2017. Survey education were all statistically significantly participants were asked to both rate the scene different – overall, they were better educated, with and without the wind farm. For scenes more middle aged and elderly, more males with wind farms, they were also asked to and more Australian-born than the Australian indicate their acceptability or otherwise in the community. Despite these differences, their landscape. The scenes were randomised. mean ratings were fairly similar across all demographic characteristics surveyed. Internet survey The survey comprised 49 scenes with wind Examining the influence of participant charact- farms and 49 without, a total of 98 scenes for eristics on their ratings found the following: the survey. These included ten coastal scenes • Older people generally rated scenes lower from the 2003 survey with hypothetical wind than younger people, a difference of farms. Over 800 turbines were shown in the nearly one unit. images. • There were significant differences Using the Survey Monkey platform, the survey between men and women in rating was launched on the Internet on 2 March and scenes, with women rating 8% higher than ended 31 days later on 1 April, 2018. During men. this time, nearly 4000 invitations to participate • Scenes without wind farms were rated in the survey were emailed to councils and lower by people with higher education than councilors in SA, Victoria and NSW as well as people with lesser education. Ratings of to 1700 clubs across Australia including scenes with wind farms were broadly outdoor, car, caravanning, gem & mineral similar across education levels. clubs. Internet access in Australian • Being born in Australia or overseas households in 2016/17 was 86% with little resulted in statistically significant different difference between rural and city locations. ratings. • Multiple regression analysis indicated that Participation in survey age and gender were the most important determinants of participant ratings. Nearly 850 people participated in the survey. The data set used for analysis was 779 and The differences in participant ratings and excluded the 69 who failed to rate any scene. scene ratings between the scenes with wind This provided a confidence interval of 0.035 at farms and without them were statistically the 95% confidence level which is significant. considerably better than the 0.05 benchmark for the social sciences. Data set Over 30 participants displayed strategic bias in The overall data set from the survey was as their ratings – if they favoured wind farms they follows: rated the scenic quality of all or most scenes as 10 and rated them all as very acceptable or acceptable.