The Stakeholders are not anti wind farm per se but the general consensus is that any wind farm should be suitably sited ideally on a single, featureless, broad acre, undulating remote property with a minimal number of adjoining land holders - as most other windfarms in Western Australia are sited, and in accordance with all relevant legislation, regulation and wind farm development model guidelines.

 

The Flat Rocks Wind Farm is currently made up of four non contiguous development areas totalling 6840 hectares with rural farms surrounded on multiple boundaries by the wind farm development areas. Layout plans so far provided show turbines sited up to the boundaries of adjoining 'rural premises' rather than in compliance with required setbacks under the development conditions thereby heavily affecting their neighbours amenity, quite enjoyment and impacting on their rural enterprises.

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The Stakeholders legal position, is that the shires cannot approve the Development Layout Plans showing turbine locations less than 1 km from neighbours property boundaries without the expressed written consent of the adjoining landowner as provided in the development conditions.

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As the original development proposal was reviewed and was "Not Assessed - no advice given", by  the Environmental Protection Authority the Stakeholders contend that with the passage of the last decade  with the inadequacies of the original submission and with the necessity now to clear approximately 2 km of remnant native vegetation along Warrenup Rd to lay a high voltage interconnecting cable and the continued threat to the endangered local Carnaby cockatoo population as well as to rare Red Tail and Baudins Cockatoos the project should be reassessed and to that end they have commissioned and lodged a third party referral to the EPA to have the project assessed.

 

This follows an established precedent where a wind farm was refused Federally on environmental grounds because of the impact on a similarly threatened bird species as the Carnaby Black cockatoo being the Orange Bellied parrot.

 

If the development is in fact compliant with all the applicable legislation and regulations the turbines are required to be located a minimum of 1km  from the adjoining rural premises boundaries in accordance with the development conditions of approval and further according to existing model guidelines out further to 1500 metres.

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In short satisfactory setbacks from neighbours boundaries are required. Furthermore if the development is to proceed the proponent is required under the development conditions not to exceed the maximum noise levels permitted and the proponent takes the commercial risk that future wind farm operations may need to be altered or modified to continue to comply with the noise limitations.

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The Stakeholders have grave concerns that the proponent will ever be able to meet the maximum noise levels at noise sensitive premises.