By Melissa Coleman
Several Karara residents voiced mixed feelings at the Acciona Energia Herries Range Wind Farm community information session last week.
While locals support renewable energy technologies, concerns about the impact of wind farms on property values, the visual appeal of the area, the noise of the turbines and the deforestation impact on animals were expressed.
Locals Richard and Emma said their main concern was the massive turbine structures obscuring the view from their property, which would ultimately impact their wedding venue business.
“The venue is on top of a hill, and it overlooks the natural beauty of the area, including the dam,” Emma said.
“Visually, the location of our wedding functions would be impacted if we could see the turbines from there, and therefore wedding organisers may not even consider the location.”
The Herries Range Wind Farm will be the second in the Southern Downs region, with the McIntyre Wind Farm just over 10 kilometres away.
Community relations coordinator Michelle Holmes said we did intend that there would be questions today.
“This is our first opportunity to talk with the public.”
“We will have other sessions to update the community to keep them informed as we get more information,” she said.
The project is currently in the early planning stage, with community engagement, technical investigations and environment surveys being performed.
“Because we are building the transmission line for the McIntyre Wind farm, we are hoping to have access to that after the planning approvals have gone through,“ she said.
Acciona Energia intends to lodge a development application with the Queensland Government to build the wind energy facility, then gain approval from the Federal Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 at the beginning of 2023.
The proposed Herries Range wind farm is located 50 km west of Warwick and would comprise of 180 wind turbines.
The area crosses three local government zones – the Southern Downs, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba and has been identified by the Queensland Government as a priority region for the development of renewable energy projects.
