Prepare to wait, wait ... and wait ...
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Vestas have been busy preparing their much-anticipated response to submissions (or completing their woefully inadequate and incomplete EIS) and have been unable to answer questions from the public around transport routes.
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However, at the Walcha Show, without notice to any impacted neighbours, they have displayed a totally new transport route for their over-size over-mass vehicles and plans for a 600 000 ton quarry on Bark Hut Rd.
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We asked project director, Mr Doug Landfear, if there were plans to share this with the Walcha community and he said they would be available in the submissions report in a few months. For those that were at the show for other reasons or missed the Vestas stall, we have collected as much information as we can from the limited displays and presented it below.
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Please note, this is our understanding of the information presented. We have asked Vestas for further clarification but as yet it has not been provided. These are major changes to the project and it is a pity Vestas are very slow to share this information
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1. Changed transport route for Over-size over-mass vehicles.
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Approximately 1600 Over-size, over-mass vehicles will now be using Thunderbolts Way instead of the Oxley Highway for the Winterbourne Wind Project.
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Escorted over-size and over-mass (OSOM) vehicles will no longer be travelling along the Oxley Highway. Winterbourne Wind now intend to transport the large turbine components up the New England Highway as far as Uralla, across Staces Rd (which will be extended to Thunderbolts Way) then down Thunderbolts Way to Walcha. They will turn east at Jamieson St and travel out to the project site.
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It is not surprising that Oxley Hwy has been found to be a non-viable option for transport of these vehicles. This decision is probably a result of lack of capacity of Oxley Hwy to sustain the project traffic rather than any concern for community well-being, but at least Vestas have accepted that the Oxley Hwy is not appropriate for the OSOM vehicles.
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The concern, now, is the impact this traffic is going to have on the safety and functionality of Thunderbolts Way.
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With over 1200 existing vehicles per day using Thunderbolts Way (almost twice the current volume of traffic on Oxley Highway) what will be the impact on the communities of Walcha and Uralla? ... Thunderbolts Way was not designed for these heavy vehicles and rapid deterioration of the pavement and substructure of the road is inevitable.
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All OSOM vehicles will still be coming through Walcha via Derby and Jamieson St.
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There are also changes to the transport route within the project area – Moona Plains Rd will not be used for access. The OSOM vehicles for the southern turbines will travel up to Winterbourne Rd and onto Bark Hut Rd. A new road is going to be built between the end of Bark Hut Rd and Rowleys Creek Rd and the OSOM vehicles will take this track down to the Moona Plains area.
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If the project proceeds, OSOM vehicles will also be travelling on the Blue Mountain Rd, Winterbourne Rd and Table Top Rd.
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2. Vestas intend to commission a quarry on “Bark Hut” on Bark Hut Rd.
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It appears from the information provided, that there will be a quarry (capacity approx. 550 000 tonnes), bores to source all project water and a substation in the vicinity of “Bark Hut” and along Bark Hut Rd. We now understand that a batching plant will also be established near the quarry.
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It is yet to be seen whether the required resources (gravel and water) will be available to be sourced on-site as claimed by project developer Doug Landfear. Vestas have claimed they will source multiple products from this single quarry, including road base, rubble and crushed rocks for drainage, base and sub-base products for use on public roads, aggregates for concrete and manufactured sand for use in concrete and backfilling cable trenches. Vestas have appeared to exceed industry expectation in being able to acquire all these products from the one pit.
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The volume of water required, as stated in the Winterbourne EIS (200 megalitres), is 40 times the typical livestock water requirements of a New England grazing property. We fear this drawdown on the local aquafers will impact local water users. When we asked Mr Landfear this question, he said there were no other bores nearby. This is an odd answer given they recognised some bores in their EIS and we know there are many more. Will Vestas be measuring and reporting on the actual water usage during project construction, as we have received comment from industry that water requirements for dust suppression alone may well exceed this quantity.
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IF Winterbourne Wind Farm can genuinely source ALL the resources for the project from on-site, and IF they can use farm tracks on host landholders’ properties instead of public roads, this is a major improvement in the project design. It is obviously not good news for those living in the vicinity of Bark Hut and Rowleys Creek Roads. It seems likely the Bark Hut Rd, the new road through from Bark Hut Rd to Rowleys Creek Rd and the existing Rowleys Creek Rd will be major thoroughfares for the project and we hope the developer and host landholders will respect the rights of these impacted neighbours. It is also concerning for water users in the area.
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This image is not very clear, but the quarry is at the eastern end of the dark green property south of Bark Hut Rd, there appears to be a substation at the end of the green overhead powerline south of Bark Hut Rd and a batching plant on the light green property south of the road. The bores are not marked.
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3. Changed configuration of Wind Turbines
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Vestas have rearranged the location of many turbines, and this has resulted in a high concentration of turbines with at least 19 turbines in a clump within 10km north-east of Walcha.
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These are going to be highly visible from town, particularly at night with lighting, These turbines will be affecting a large number of Walcha residents.
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If you are concerned or have any questions regarding this update, we encourage you to get in touch with Vestas ...
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Make sure you also cc the Planning Department in any correspondance you have with Vestas.
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