A 1,200 megawatt wind farm that was proposed to deliver enough energy to power nearly 500,000 homes will be dumped by the Queensland government because of community concerns.<\/p>\n
The Forest Wind project was slated to build up to 226 wind turbines, as tall as 160 metres, across Queensland state forests in Gympie, Maryborough and the Fraser Coast.<\/p>\n
The former Labor government passed the Forest Wind Farm Development legislation that allowed the turbines to be built in a state forest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A map of the proposed wind farm site. (Supplied: Forest Wind)<\/p>\n
On Monday, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the government would repeal that legislation.<\/p>\n
He said the act was “creating fear and anxiety in local communities”.<\/p>\n
“The Crisafulli government is ending years of uncertainty for the local community by repealing the special purpose legislation introduced by Labor designed to steamroll the local community in their reckless rush for renewables,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jarrod Bleijie says the laws allowing the renewable project will be repealed. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
Gunalda resident Bruce Turner said the decision was “good news” considering the potential impact on native birds and wildlife.<\/p>\n
“We have a very high list of bird species through this area here,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We’re not against green renewables, but the trouble with wind turbines is they have a tendency of killing birds.”<\/p>\n
Mr Turner said locals were concerned about how much forest required clearing.<\/p>\n
“It was a massive project and to get the wind turbines in place would have been horrendous,” he said.<\/p>\n
Debate over impact<\/p>\n
The Queensland Conservation Council has criticised the government’s decision to repeal the act.<\/p>\n
Director Dave Copeman said these forests were ideal for wind turbines, because they had such little impact on the environment and homeowners.<\/p>\n
“Pine plantations are key areas we should look to build projects because the local biodiversity has already been severely impacted,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The Crisafulli government’s move to prematurely axe Forest Wind is just another indication that they’re putting ideology over the practical need to build renewable energy to get down emissions and power bills.”<\/p>\n
In late 2020, project developer Forest Wind hoped construction could start on the project by the end of the following year.<\/p>\n
Native title holders had also raised concerns about what the turbines would mean for wildlife.<\/p>\n