It is not inconceivable that landholders who manage freehold land near the coast and in higher elevations, will at some time be presented with the option to host a Wind Farm development on their property. In some cases land which has been set aside as a Nature Refuge will be a suitable site. At the present time and in the past when Nature Refuge agreements were drawn up between government and landowners, developments such as this were not envisaged or considered. There are however Nature Refuge agreements which encompass tourism developments, livestock grazing and native forest timber harvesting thus setting a precedent for some forms of commercial activities in these areas.
The question I would pose to members of NaLRA is would we as an association like to consider the issue of wind farm developments as a suitable development in Nature Refuges and if so are we as an association prepared to develop a position statement to present to the government on this issue?
My background reading on the subject included "Siting a Wind Farm", an online publication from the Aust. Wind Energy Association [ http://www.westwind-energy.com.au/html/..%5Cfiles%5CBP5_Siting.pdf ] which outlines suitable geographical and topographical locations, title considerations, compatible activities, the relationship to existing infrastructure and alludes to likely impacts of the developments and minimisation strategies (eg soil erosion).
I then unearthed this reference
which gives an insight on the possible effects on birds and bats of Australian wind farms.
For a social comment I found this link
http://www.swellnet.com.au/surfpolitik.php?surfpolitik=Gone_With_the_Wind_100209.php
Dixie Nott
Burwood Nature Refuge
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