The area of the proposed wind farms, including the Winterbourne wind farm which is on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range.
The area of the proposed wind farms, including the Winterbourne wind farm which is on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range. This terrain is in the range of 4,000 – 4,500 feet above sea level. Further proposed developments include country that is slightly higher above sea level. Due to the height above sea level and the proximity to the east coast this country often has low level cloud down to 500 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) and less. Due to the elevation of the country and the size of the wind farm it could be a fatal trap to an aviator trying to get over the Great Dividing Range due to the extreme height and the number of turbines that will blanket the ridge lines. Allowing for the height of the turbines plus 500 feet of clearance required, the lowest safe altitude to fly over the turbines, tracking east would be 7,500 feet Above Sea Level (ASL) and tracking west would be 6,500 feet ASL.
For pilots, flying visually, a lot of the time they could not fly over these heights as mentioned because of low level cloud that hangs on the ranges. This can be relevant for days and sometimes weeks on the eastern side of the Divide. This could also be relevant for emergency services if there is a need to “let down” through cloud to land. E.g. patient retrieval. This persistent low level cloud would make low level flying extremely dangerous through these wind farm areas. This dangerous situation would apply to General Aviation, Agricultural aviation for the application of fertilizer or chemicals, Emergency services, e.g. patient retrieval and aerial firefighting. Aerial firefighting downwind of a fire I would consider to be unviable. The whole wind farm project, in relation to aviation should be looked at as a whole, the more turbines built the more detrimental it will be for the safe operation of low level flight.
Walcha is known as The Pasture Wonderland. A lot of this has been brought about by the aerial application of fertilizer. In its heyday there used to be 150 agricultural airstips, this now is somewhat reduced. During a wet season a lot of the country can only be fertilized by air.
Wind turbines will be mostly along ridge lines for obvious reasons, which will make it almost impossible to spread fertilizer by air, as they are 750 feet or 260 metres (approximately) high. Normal spreading height for fertilizer is between 100 and 150 feet above the terrain. Because the turbines are along hills, there is rarely the option of spreading by ground. If the aeroplane can climb high enough, how would the turbines feel about having granulated fertilizer with possible lumps, spread over them, as well as the obvious problem of highly corrosive dust? Wind farms will make aerial spraying virtually impossible. Spreading above the turbines would also be a very expensive exercise because of the height the aircraft would have to climb to be above the turbine blade height.
Applying fertilizer downwind of these turbines at 100 -150 feet could also create dangers due to turbulence.
Downwind turbulence could also affect ground spraying of chemicals and unwanted drift of chemicals.
If the whole proposed Walcha wind farm is built the Walcha Aerodrome which is now equipped for aerial firefighting would be too dangerous to access for aerial firefighting due the low visibility because of smoke around the adjacent very high wind turbines. Bushfires can create their own turbulence which will be made even worse by adjacent wind turbine turbulence.
The planning authority may seek advice from the Civil Aviation Services of Australia (CASA) on the risk to aviation created by the proposed development if a risk has been identified. I consider there are enough grounds to state there IS a risk to aviation.
POINTS RELATING TO AVIATION AS IN CASA Advisory Circular AC 139.E-05 V1.1.
2.4.2.1 “Has the developer engaged an aviation consultant to conduct an aeronautical study to determine if the proposed development will create a risk to aviation safety. “
2.4.2.1 “Has the developer engaged an aviation consultant to conduct an aeronautical study to determine if the proposed development will create a risk to aviation safety. “
2.4.2.2 “The aeronautical study should assess the impact of the wind farm on any aviation activity which includes low level activities that may include fire spotting, fire fighting, aerial agricultural activities and operators of general aviation aircraft in the area including uncertified aerodromes or landing areas used by the local community.”
2.4 .2.4 States “the cumulative effect of other wind farms in close proximity to a new wind farm development should also be considered.” This means that if a development is carried out piece by piece (which the proposed Walcha wind farm Complex is) then the whole development as a whole should be considered as to the effects on aviation activities.
CASA Assessment of Aeronautical Studies
Has CASA carried out an assessment in regard to the Walcha Complex on the stated following 2.4.4.2
- location height and number of the wind turbines/monitoring masts/tall structures.
- terrain in the vicinity of the development.
- volume and type of flying operations in the vicinity of the development.
- proximity of aerodromes.
- urban (built up area) or rural setting.
- potential for wind turbine turbulence effects.
- ability to see the development in low visibility conditions.
- prevailing local weather conditions.
- inclusion of light management systems in the proposal – radar detection or visibility monitoring
- International best practice.