A proposal to erect up to 600 wind turbines across West Australian farmland is creating division and uncertainty within regional communities. The development, which spans wheatbelt farms to coastal communities, is part of the state government's decarbonisation plan. But affected residents and shires say there's been little information and guidance.
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00:00Reaching more than 200 metres above farmland, a wind testing tower near Narrogin. Built
00:09almost two years ago, it's measuring wind strength and consistency, feeding data to
00:15wind farm developers, part of the state government's target to provide 2,000 megawatts of renewable
00:22power within five years, foreshadowing a fundamental change of land use in the central wheat belt.
00:30We need about 2,000 megawatts this decade. Our projections show we need about 50,000
00:36megawatts of new electricity supply through to 2050.
00:40Hundreds of giant turbines, some reaching 280 metres tall, will be built on ridge lines
00:47stretching from Narrogin and Williams to Wajin, Arthur River and Darkin.
00:53I had two years ago presumed there might be 50 in our shire alone. Within three or
01:00four shires, I've scarily heard there could be up to 1,200.
01:04The scale and speed of the rollout has some developers, communities and councils concerned.
01:10It's going to change the landscape and that's one thing that we've got to be aware of. Some
01:15people love them, some people hate them, but it's going to change our landscape.
01:21Worrying local leaders and residents is the lack of information from the state government
01:26about the long-term economic benefits to small towns and future legal protection for land
01:33owners affected by the towers.
01:36We want development, and every regional town wants development, but they want the development
01:40to be long-lasting for their community and that's what we're, I suppose, nervous about.
01:44All of our little towns could gain that housing growth which we desperately need. If we get
01:49that as a promise rather than a hypothetical yes, maybe, I think we'd be a lot more amenable
01:56to what these entities are proposing.
02:00New South Wales and Queensland have introduced guidelines for developers and communities
02:05and residents want to know why WA is lagging behind.
02:09This is a billion dollar industry, a billion dollar project. As farmers, we're busy running
02:14our farms, we're trying to help power the state. Where is the guidebook?
02:19We build communities with an uncertain future, facing a five-year deadline.