BEST PRINT OR DIGITAL HOUSE ADVERTISEMENT 2013 - 2014 Ocer 7,000 Circulation
Winner The Weekly Advertiser
Vol. 17 No. 15
FREE PUBLICATION
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
VCPA 2013-2014 Advertising Awards winner
SPRING BLOOMS: Horsham’s Meadows sisters, from left, Myah, 4, Jaya, 7, Romy, 10, are pictured among a bed of native paper daisies that Horsham Rural City Council has germinates in the approaches to the Wimmera River bridges. The council is considering using the long-flowering plant, grown readily from seed, as a drought-resistant alternative to grass. Horsham Spring Garden Festival at Horsham Botanic Gardens starts on Friday and continues over Saturday and Sunday. Picture: MICK SHANNON
Turbine catchment fear BY DEAN LAWSON
F
armers Kris and Jon McMillan fear construction of a $500-million wind farm near their property in Bulgana district near Great Western will have disastrous consequences for the upper Wimmera catchment. Kris McMillan, in speaking on a strongly worded letter she sent to The Weekly Advertiser, said a proposed Bulgana Wind Farm had the potential to negate decades of land rehabilitation work in ‘one of the most fragile areas’ in Victoria. “Our concern is that there will be, not might be, substantial land degradation as soon as there is land disturbance on the
slopes of any of the hills in the Six Mile Creek Catchment,” she said. “There is written evidence that the fragility of the soil in this catchment is by far the worst in the whole state of Victoria.” Mrs McMillan made her comments as Northern Grampians Shire Council confirmed that Bulgana Wind Farm Pty Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of global wind energy company Enerfin, had applied for a planning permit to construct a wind-energy plant in the Bulgana-Great Western area. The project, the first windfarm proposal for the municipality, involves 67 individual turbines, each with a capacity to generate between two to
four megawatts of power. Mrs McMillan said she was not against wind-farm development but had major concerns about where renewable energy companies wanted to build them, based mainly on environmental worries, but also on land-value, roads and community health issues.
Wimmera River She also had philosophical concerns about projects that sent profits overseas after gaining support from Australian taxpayers, adding that the wind-farm proposal had divided the district’s farming community and negotiations had been shrouded in secrecy. “Our family has spent a lifetime and considerable money
of our own as well as substantial government and other corporate funding on repairing erosion and salinity since moving to the area in 1958,” she said. “In the past 17 years there has been more than $4.5-million spent in the catchment combating erosion and the amount of salt and sedimentation flowing into the Wimmera River. Also, in the years preceding 1997, the figure in today’s value would in the vicinity of $20-million. “There are no turbines proposed for our property but we’ve had an offer to sign a $170,000 neighbour deed. But the money doesn’t mean anything if it means destroying all the work that’s occurred over the years.”
The Wimmera’s upper catchment, where the Wimmera River system starts before spreading northwards, features a landscape of rolling and denuded hills. The area was subject to extensive clearing in the past, its timber helping fuel Melbourne’s growth. But the longterm impact has been serious erosion and sedimentation of the Wimmera river system which has led to extensive land-rehabilitation projects. Northern Grampians chief executive Justine Linley said it was important for the community to be aware of proposal details and to understand how people could have their input and say. “While it is extremely en-
IN THIS ISSUE • Hindmarsh trail funding • Johns backs manufacturing • Dimboola car show Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
AUDITED: 23,402 COPIES
PLAZA MEATS Shop 29, Horsham Plaza Phone (03) 5381 1365
October 2013 to March 2014 Source: AMAA; CAB Total Distribution Audit for further information visit www.auditedmedia.org.au
Celebrating
20 years
Savoury Rissoles Buy 10, get 10 free
Roast Beef Red white and garlic flavour
799
$
kg
couraging to see that such a significant proposal has been identified as possible within Northern Grampians Shire, particularly in the renewable energy industry, it will ultimately be put before the council for determination,” she said. “As with any major planning permit application there are rigorous referral and assessment processes that need to be adhered to and we are very mindful of the importance of fair and due process.” Mrs Linley said the public could view the application, including a map of the proposed location, online or at the council’s Stawell Customer Service Centre.