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Usable power from the planned Tooborac wind farms will be less than .01% of total Victorian electricity use. Because of the vagaries of the wind not a single fossil fuel burning power station will be decommissioned or have significantly less demands made on it by the planned Tooborac wind farm.
Our taxes will contribute millions of dollars to the installation of wind turbines in Tooborac. The development company to whom this money will be paid to destroy our Victorian landscape is a huge, faceless corporation driven largely by a need to make profits.
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If the millions of dollars of our taxes planned for expenditure on wind farms were returned to Victorians in the form of a larger rebate for the installation of domestic solar hot water services the demand for electricity production could decrease by up to 20%. This could enable the decommissioning of dirty, coal fired power stations in Victoria and prevent millions of tons of Co2 from being released into the atmosphere.
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Governments are motivated by votes. Wind turbines are like huge billboards advertising the (fallacious) green position of the Brumby Government. To the uninformed they appear to be a real answer to the problem of climate change. The Government can point to them as evidence of its activity in countering green house gas production. Reducing the production of electricity will reduce the tax revenues flowing to the Government. As a result it has a vested interest in encouraging us to use more electricity, not less.
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All Victorians and Australians will be required to contribute more and more money through increased taxes to combat the impending salinity disaster we are facing- particularly north of the Great Dividing Range. The 150 enormous towers planned for Tooborac could involve upwards of 1000 tonnes of concrete each interred as foundations. This will remain in the ground forever. It could contribute significantly to increasing salinity in the Murray river and all the country between the Murray valley and the McHarg ranges.
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Tooborac residents and those residents around the intended installations will pay for the wind farm folly not just by wasted taxes but through a rapid and permanent drop in the value of their properties as well.
These same people will lose the advantage of the quiet, rural outlook, bountiful bird and animal life and convivial community bound by our common love of our area. We will be assailed with visual pollution, noise and increased road traffic.
As well, division will become the characteristic most prevalent in our community as those few who selfishly grab the dollars offered for the destruction of our way of life are reviled by the rest of us.
When the contracts in which these selfish few have engaged come to an end in 20 years, the damage and ugliness will increase. The towers will “revert to the ownership of the landholder”. The practical effect of this is that they will be left to rust like disused farm machinery on our once wild and magnificent hills.
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Every summer all residents will have their anxiety increased dramatically by the greater likelihood of wildfire. Experience in other countries has shown an increase in fires as the result of malfunctioning turbines. The potential for loss of life, both amongst those in the path of a fire and of those sent to fight one is very real. Any proprietor of a wind turbine which causes a fire may be liable for costs associated with that fire. This could include culpability for loss of life as well as loss of property.
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There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that serious, long -term health damage can result from the subsonic noise associated with wind turbines.
Even residents at some distance from the
proposed sites of the wind turbines may suffer by having their property compulsorily acquired for the passage of electricity pylons between the turbines and the state’s electricity grid. The Ugliness, loss of amenity and potential health risks associated with these lines transporting enormous voltages are also very real.
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If the turbines proceed, the land on which they are placed and the surrounding area will be re-zoned “Industrial” This opens the way for other noxious industries to move into the area. As well, other activities more conducive to the current character of the area will not proceed. Lost to the area will be tree plantations, vineyards, the growing reputation of the area as food and wine destination, valuable tourism (as opposed to traffic) and its supporting amenities.
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Experience from other areas blighted by wind turbines is that employment for locals does not increase in the longer term. We believe long term employment opportunities will be lost to the area forever as a result of the lack of more diverse developments such as those mentioned in the previous paragraph.
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We need your help to stop wind farm development in our area. Money is needed to widen our information campaign. Donations of $500 or more entitle you to membership of the Rats of Tooborac. Members have a say in the continuing development of our campaign. |
