THE installer says you can make your money back in five years, one resident called them an eyesore, and Wingecarribee Council wants to know more before approving three domestic wind turbines.
Applications for turbines at East Bowral, Burradoo and Sutton Forest will be decided by Council, not delegated authority, in April.
Moidart Nursery has applied to install a 12-metre high, 9.8-kilowatt “storm” turbine on its Eridge Park Road property, while another is proposed for the Old Pump House on Boardman Road.
Councillors Ken Halstead and Larry Whipper called for more details on environmental impacts at last week’s Council meeting.
Cr Halstead said he wasn’t against green technology and was pro-wind turbines, but he wanted them to be in the right places.
“They could be controversial depending on where they are located,” he said.
“I have seen bigger [turbines] and they hardly tick over.
Stuart Thomson, a partner at turbine installers Rewind Energy, said they were very quiet and designed to turn into the wind.
Mr Thomson said his firm currently had 80 projects in progress. He said a five-kilowatt turbine, costing $35,000, produced enough power for half an average household. A 10-kilowatt turbine, costing $65,000, produces enough for three houses.
“The electricity feeds back into the grid and this is offset against the residents bill,” he said.
Mr Thomson said most people pay around 20 cents per kilowatt of electricity, but the government will pay turbine owners 60 cent per every kilowatt they supply to the grid.
“Penny Wong [Climate Change Minister] recently put on a price floor of $40 and the government provides feeding tariff rebates,” he said. “We are installing them across NSW, in mountainous areas like Bathurst, Armidale and Goulburn. We have had excellent feedback, with owners saying they are a lot quieter than expected.
“People will be making money.”
Burradoo neighbour Heather Byrne, who lives next to Moidart Nursery, received notification of the DA last week and submitted her opposition.
She said the turbine would have a significant impact on open visual spaces and a detrimental impact on the historical building of Eridge Lodge.
“It seems ludicrous that such precious heritage items are maintained at great expense by a property owner next to a visual eyesore,” she wrote.
“We request the council reject this development proposal in its current form and encourage the applicant to use solar energy.”
Moidart owner Graham Warwick can’t understand what all the fuss is about.
“Only three people can see them from their houses and it won’t interfere with anyone,” he said.
‘We are trying to save on energy costs and anybody who doesn’t is fooling themselves.”
Mr Warwick said he had a lot of wind and shade on his property, so solar power wasn’t practical, but he might consider it in the future.
“It’s a little windmill that’s not going to bother anybody. I am very surprised [by the opposition].”
Environment and Planning director Scott Lee said a report on the turbines, specifically how they fit in with the shire’s Development Control Plan, would be completed for Council.
The turbines are built in China and the electrical parts made in Germany. Mr Thomson said he saw a niche for domestic turbines and started the business in March last year.
“I travelled through the US and Europe and they have them everywhere. We only have the big suckers here so I explored the smaller ones,” he said. “We have installed identical models in Kiama and they are for domestic use only.
“If the turbine had to be removed at a later stage it would have no effect on the environment at all as it could be easily done.”
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