Locals interested to hear about wind farm project

Cobar Mayor Peter Abbott was one of 15 local residents who took the opportunity to attend WestWind Energy’s information session last Wednesday at the Cobar Bowling & Golf Club. The drop in session provided residents with an opportunity to find out more about the proposed wind farm to be built in Cobar. Cr Abbott is pictured with

WestWind’s Cobar Energy Park project manager Tom Walker and their planning and environment manager Fiona Riley.als who wanted to know more about a proposed wind farm in the Cobar area were able to have their questions answered at an Open Day last week.

WestWind Energy, an Australian wind farm developer, held a drop in session over five hours last Wednesday at the Cobar Bowling & Golf Club with their staff providing information on the proposed Cobar Energy Park to  be located approximately 25km northwest of the town.

Consisting of up to 30 turbines spread over approximately 7,500 hectares, the Cobar Energy Park will produce over 756GWh of green energy annually, enough to power more than 130,000 homes.

It will connect into the nearby 132 kV transmission line and then into the wider energy market.

The project is in the early stages of the development process with WestWind currently doing a pre feasibility study, gathering data, and undertaking various environmental and wind assessments.

Part of the early process is engaging with the community and local stakeholders to gain feedback and to get an understanding of their opinion on the project.

The project’s manager Tom Walker was on hand at last week’s session and said following the community consultation process, they will look to amend or change the design in response to any concerns they receive.

“The conversations we had were overwhelmingly positive,” Mr Walker said after last week’s session.

“Everyone is interested to learn more,” he said.

Mr Walker said many of the people who attended had a good grasp of knowledge regarding wind farms which made for some “robust discussion”.

Staff were able to answer questions about wind farm noise—a typical wind farm turbine from 500-1000m produces 40 A-weighted decibels compared to a lawnmower at 105 db (A), a blender 90 db(A), a car 55 db(A) and rural night-time background noise 30 db(A).

They also addressed concerns about possible electromagnetic interference to mobile phone, radio and television services.

“We encourage anyone with concerns to contact us and we can speak to them and address any comments they have,” Mr Walker said.

Following further community consultation, Mr Walker said the project will then go through a rigorous planning process including environment and planning studies, a cultural heritage study, a visual impact study and a grid study.

The company aims to commence the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process early next year following consultation with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

“The layout of the wind farm will continue to be refined during the EIS process,” Mr Walker said.

The development timeline is a long one with the planning approval process expected to take two years.

The project is not expected to break ground until 2027 with an estimated construction timeline of one to three years.

“Community participation is vital for any major infrastructure development to be successful,” Mr Walker said.

“Cobar Energy Park encourages local community members to get involved.”