'Neighbours against neighbours': farmer's warning as battle heats up

A seventh-generation cattle producer, George King manages 3000 hectares of land, which has been in the family since 1880.

Targeted by renewable energy companies for some time, the Kings have knocked back the offer to house a number of 45-metre high turbines, which would add to the Blayney Wind Farm landscape near Carcoar.

A guest speaker at the community meeting in Molong on February 19, Mr King said his family's decision to decline offers was largely due to reports of remorse from his neighbours, who were formerly pro-turbines.

"We've had the option of putting wind farms on our base for the last 15 years, and [renewable energy companies have] been asking us to do it because we've got a north-south wind that's just perfect for it," Mr King said.

"But our neighbours just north of us ... a lot of them agreed to putting turbines on their land a long time ago and just about all of them are regretting it now."

Mr King says there are "only two lots of people" who have no issues with the turbines, saying they've recently signed contracts to allow wind farms on their properties.

But the farmer warned people that anyone who "gets any further in" than the initial contract phase ends up living to regret the irreversible choice.

For the remaining Carcoar residents with turbines, Mr King says they feel "ripped off" - signing up for something "that's not good value" with unforeseen problems stacked up.

"And the neighbours that haven't got the mills, but who've got the visual amenities problems, they're really up in arms about it," he said.

"So, it's bringing neighbours against neighbours ... [and] it is disturbing to see close-knit rural communities fighting.

"The companies who are set to get filthy rich from these schemes must be loving the disharmony."

Ruined from the amount of trucks going in and out, Mr King said all of the roads surrounding the Lake Carcoar wind farm area "just destroyed".

With these large turbines usually transported in sections before being erected, works are still ongoing for those who are new to signing along the dotted line.

"The disruption that it's caused them during the construction phase at the moment is enormous," Mr King said.

"B-doubles come in here non-stop, so there is a massive increase in traffic flow from the trucks and the roads have just had it.

"And they're all gravel roads, so you're not getting agricultural production out of that ever again."

An environmental pitfall of the wind power station, Mr King said the 15 turbines are also "killing every bird in the district" as the blades circle.

He said every wedgetail eagle will "eventually be wiped out" as a species in the area.

But a grave concern of the farmer's is a state of helplessness in the event a section 44 fire is declared.

According to the Rural Fires Act of 1997, this is: a bush fire is burning in a place that is not the responsibility of any fire fighting authority.

"There will be no firefighters going in there and you cannot put fire-bombers where turbines are, they won't go in," Mr King said.

"They're not going to send ground crews in there unaided, and they're not going to go into the smoke.

"It's just not going to happen, unless they've got backup from air support, which they won't have either."

While authorities categorise the risk of wind turbine fires as low or rare, there is the possibility of embers causing grassland fires at the base, or bush-fires occurring near them in general - like in any regional space.

Firefighting professional, Australia's Country Fire Service aviation manager, David Pearce says aerial strategies in such an event would be assessed.

"Aircraft are only used on a relative minority of fires throughout the fire season," he said.

"It's just really another piece of infrastructure in the environment that we just need to be managing on a risk basis when we're fighting fires.

"We would treat the wind farms exactly the same way as we treat power-lines that are reasonably high, also radio masts, television towers or even high structures."

Noting it had been mentioned several times at the latest Voice for Cabonne meeting, Mr King spoke about the topic of targeted wind farm residents wanting better contracts once a turbine meets the end of its life.

Occuring at the 25 to 30-year mark, the Blayney Wind Farm is nearing the decommissioning stage now.

But Mr King said the writing was on the wall for most of these Carcoar residents, warning those in Cabonne of similar circumstances.

"The [renewable energy] company will sell it to another company, which will sell it to a shelf company which is basically valueless, so they can declare bankruptcy and you're left with the decommission costs," he said.

"So, you might earn 300 or 400 grand for its 25-year-life, but then you're stuck with a $60,000 decommissioning bill, and if you don't decommission it, it's going to start deteriorating or fall down.

"The carbon fibre blades will then contaminate your pastures, which make your livestock or crop sales impossible; and there's nothing you can do to protect yourself from that."