Tomahawk’s wind farm fury
Kelvin Moyne, Tony Gray, Mark Richardson, Any Moyne, Helen Davis, Janelle and James Nevin are preparing to fight against the proximity of turbines near their Tomahawk properties.
November 6, 2024
By Rachel Williams
A group of Tomahawk residents are preparing to fight against the location of turbines close to their homes and shacks proposed as part of the $4 billion ACEN Australia North East Wind farm.
The potential placement of a wharf off the coast to bring in large blades and tower infrastructure as part of the project, which will have up to 210 wind turbines that reach 270m high, is also a major concern for the group.
Resident Kelvin Moyne is leading the protest, with a large number of anti-development signs being erected around the area and a petition established.
“We urge the developers and local authorities to reconsider the current proposal and find an alternative location for these turbines, one that does not threaten the peace, health, and well-being of the Tomahawk community,”
Mr Moyne said.
An ACEN Australia spokesperson said the company was still refining the turbine layout including the number of turbines and their locations for the development, which could power 525,000 homes each year.
“This refinement continues throughout the approvals process. An indicative wind turbine layout map will be on display at our next community information session from 11am-2pm on Saturday, November 23 at Tomahawk Fire Station,” the spokesman said.
“It will show turbine numbers across both sites, and a 3km minimum distance between turbines and dwellings in the Tomahawk township.
“We will also demonstrate a new Augmented Reality (AR) technology that allows people to visualise what the project could look like at this distance and in the real world. The AR tool can be used to indicate if the project is likely to be visible from different locations.”
North East Wind was declared a Major Project in 2022 and must meet assessment criteria released by the Tasmanian Planning Commission in August 2023.
The development sites have always been listed as clusters of turbines at Waterhouse and Rushy Lagoon.
Shack owner Tony Gray said many residents had not known about the proximity of the turbines to Tomahawk until now.
“These are massively larger than the ones at Cape Portland so they have much more of a visual impact and you would expect that they would have to be noisier,” Mr Gray said.
“It’s a classic ‘not in your backyard’. You can talk about the environmental concerns and the birds but it goes to your amenity. We all want to get away from a built-up environment. It is going to be very unpleasant for dubious public benefit.
“They are going to build roads and infrastructure and a big wharf out into the bay to bring in the turbines because they will be too big to bring in via roads.”
The spokesman said several options were being considered to transport large components, including building a wharf or using the local road network.
Mr Gray said residents were also concerned about potential for offshore wind farms close by with the Federal Government still assessing the proposed zone in Bass Strait.
The project is not slated for work to begin until late 2026 at the earliest.