From: John McGrath Sent: Monday, 23 March 2015 3:50 PM To: Committee, Wind Turbines (SEN) Subject: Wind Farm Submission Too whom it may concern I would like to submit the following submission on Wind Farms please Regards John McGrath Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm My family and I along with the majority of ratepayers in the Yass District have dealt with issues arising from the potential development of a Wind Farm on Conroy’s Gap for the last 10 years, where in 2005 we as rate payers received a notice/question from the Yass Valley Council or their predecessors via mail, as to whether there were any objections to the installation of Wind Monitoring Towers being constructed on the hill adjoining or property. The hill known as the Black Trig. The results of a petition circulated within weeks of that letter arriving in the mail was a figure of over 95 people against the construction of any future Wind Farms to the West of Bowning, Yass and obviously our property against the 4 proposed hosts at the time. These hosts had been signed up by the proponents initially in complete secrecy of the knowledge to adjoining land holders. Nevertheless almost immediately not only the one wind monitoring tower was constructed but 2 where installed, both of which still stand today. As time progressed many of our community became aware of the name of the Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm proponents name which at that time was Taurus Energy. A public meeting was organized at the Yass Soldiers Club with Taurus Energies representatives in 2005, those representatives where amazed to see that there was so much resistance to the objective of constructing such a Wind Farm. 1 The proposal of Wind Farm Installations has divided a long standing situation of a stable neighbourly relationships, not only dividing neighbours but in more than one case actual local families. With my back ground as an Electrician and having worked for Transgrid for more than 13 years therefore I have a reasonable understanding of both the electrical industry and the NSW/South Eastern corner of Australia’s Generation and Transmission system. As a result I found that the answers to some of the questions received from the floor by the proponents Taurus Energy representatives where less than truthfully answered. From the inception of the development of the Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm there was apparently supposed to have been consultation between property owners whose properties adjoined or where nearby to the proposed site of the proposed Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm with Taurus Energy. This did not happen. A second public meeting was held at the Yass Memorial Hall during 2006 again with Taurus Energy representatives. This time photomontages and planned layout maps of the proposed wind farm where on display. Then those present that were noninvolved landholders could view less than accurate images of Wind Towers (depicted much smaller than actual size) in close proximity to their family homes and on maps where Taurus Energy proposed to site these towers. Still no consultation with noninvolved landholders had occurred. Many more issues where raised regarding the problems that the installation of the Wind Farm adjacent to several downstream neighbours along the creek known as McCullemns Creek would cause, amongst which is the very real issue of massive erosion causing extra heavy silting during the excavation required to install the footing for these towers on very steep country that feeds into the local natural drainage system. This is a very important creek for not only livestock water but is also used as a source of domestic water supplies-erosion issues where refuted by Taurus’s Representatives along with many other answers given to what should have been simply answered questions, at that 2006 Public Meeting. Amongst which were replies given by Taurus like; What effect would the Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm have on the local resident population of Wedged Tailed Eagles? Taurus Energy refuted that there’d be any effect on a population of Wedged Tailed Eagles, that according to them did not exist. Refer to their original EIS where a proposed host signed off on their EIS denying that there were any Wedged Tailed Eagles on or near the Black Trig highest point in both the Yass valley aswell as highest point of towers in the proposed Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm. 1. A statement that can be refuted from photographic evidence taken by members of my family of Wedged Tailed Eagles “running” the contours of our side of the Black Trig in search of rabbits. 2 We remain mystified as why perfectly healthy and heavy Wedged Tailed Eagles fall out of trees dead or are found in local paddocks in the same condition dead. A fact that we believe as a family needs further investigation. Yass Valley Wind Farm In later years after a succession of owner proponents the overall new area proposed for the much larger Yass Valley Wind Farm including Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm was enlarged to include North to Marilba and West and North West to the Bookham, Berramangra, Coppabella Range including Mt Bobbara North West of Binalong. Now Epuron where the proponents-by now I was on the Yass Valley Wind farm Consultative Committee, which initially involved regular monthly meetings with Epuron’s representatives by various members of the community with varying interests in Wind Farm development, including noninvolved neighbouring property land holders, like myself, proposed hosts, local government representatives from both Harden Shire and Yass Valley Council-these meeting run well through 2013 but as a result of Epuron not being committed to attending these meetings failed altogether during the later part or 2014 Once again Epuron was in denial of the many and same issues put to them that had been raised already regarding the Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm, until it was realized that on Mt Bobbara there is a radar installation that overlooks both Canberra and Albury Airports, and it’s been an issue in the past where wind towers have interfered with the line of sight of Airport Radar so much so giving false readings. Then it wasn’t until the sometime in 2014 Epuron wished to consult with us, as a family we thought that that part of the process was too late by that stage! Third Wind Monitoring Tower for Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm Within the last 2 years a third wind monitoring tower has been erected within line of site of our home to our South West. This tower was installed as a temporary device and mounted in a trailer yet has concrete anchor point drilled into the ground to anchor the guy wires keeping this tower erect. How’s that classed as temporary? Almost immediately the third wind monitoring tower was erected unannounced a local aerial fertilizer spreader almost collided with the device-these wind monitoring towers have proven fatal to areal agricultural operators in overseas countries already. Also the exact area where this third wind monitoring tower was erected there have been 2 lightning strikes started fires, the first in the 1980s where I came upon a eucalypt tree smoldering some days after a dry lightning storm, and the second instance occurred in February 2013 following almost immediately after the January 2013 Cobbler’s Road Fire which in itself impacted much of the area proposed for the erection of the Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm. Other near local windfarms have already been impacted by lightning strikes disabling machine-Cullerin Wind Farms for example. Boorowa District Wind Farms 3 Bango Wind Farms Rye Park Wind Farms Rugby Wind Farms I was invited to align with the Boorowa District Landscape Guardians due to my knowledge of birds, mainly parrots as I have been an amateur naturalist observing native local wild birds all my life and have been involved in aviculture virtually all my life with over 50 years’ experience in that field. I have specialized in aviculture of Australian White Cockatoos for in excess of the last 30 years, gaining international recognition for my work with this group of birds. Therefore I have been invited todo Power Point presentations on my Avicultural findings both within Australia aswell as overseas-Dutch Parrot Symposium May 26th 2013. I also regularly write articles on my findings. What I found extremely hard to understand was the EIS filed by Brett Lane and Associates for Suzlon Energy the original proponents for the Bango Wind Farm, Rye Park Wind Farm & Rugby Wind Farms Brett Lane and Associates basically self-admitted that they did more than small walk trough’s of the area of some of the proposed conglomeration of 360 wind towers stretching from the Hume Highway just North of Yass through to the Rye Park Rugby area. From my memory they claimed that they did a “walk through” in May of small portions of this proposed conglomerations of towers and stated that there were no Superb Parrots Polytelis swainsonii-That’s exactly correct there are no Superb Parrots in resident in the Boorowa area in May, the birds arrive from their Northern haunts in preparation for breeding in very late August mid-September whereupon they build themselves up physically for breeding by feasting on the blossom of the Yellow Box Eucalyptus melliodora, then after a hectic period breeding of less than 4 months viz laying, setting on their eggs hen only being fed mainly by the cock bird, raising their chicks to fledging, fledging their chicks they all then depart again for their Northern haunts in mid-January the next year. The greater Boorowa area is a known breeding ground for the Superb Parrot.