Moyne Shire Council pushes for minimum wind farm financial benefits

The Wind Farm Community Investment Program was presented at the monthly council meeting on April 26 as a way of establishing the bare minimum the council believes is fair compensation from wind farm companies operating within the shire.

There are more than a dozen wind farms in various stages of operation, construction, or planning throughout the shire but council officers said levels of community compensation "var(ied) widely between projects". Macarthur Wind Farm paid $357 per turbine per year into its community grants fund, whereas the proposed Woolsthorpe Wind Farm would pay $3000 per turbine.

The six operating wind farms in the shire already produce enough electricity to power 600,000 households, while the entire shire contains just 12,000 households, none of which receive a power subsidy from that electricity.

Mayor Karen Foster said the council had spoken extensively with other councils which also hosted wind farms, as well as looking at best practice guidelines developed by the Victorian government and renewable energy advocacy groups. She said said it was crucial to establish a "benchmark" expectation.

"This is really to determine an advocacy position," Cr Foster said. She said the current "ad hoc" approach made it difficult to lobby the government to strengthen the rules.

"We have a role in advocacy and will use these standards to help drive a better deal for our communities."

The proposed plan consists of 11 elements, including an annual community grant contribution of at least $3000 per turbine, an annual $15,000 education scholarship per wind farm, an annual $20,000 event sponsorship per wind farm, an annual community project sponsorship of $1000 per turbine, neighbour compensation programs, annual $2000 energy offset payments, rate paying agreements and housing contributions.

Cr Jordan Lockett said the document was "a great starting point" and urged the other councillors to vote to adopt the plan.

Cr Daniel Meade said he agreed the plan was "on the right track" but as an advocacy document it was much too complicated and needed refining.

"I think it's very difficult to advocate with a document that does not have a clear figure for what we're asking for for each turbine. MPs will find there's too much room for interpretation," Cr Meade said. "I think it needs to be simplified to a dollar amount per turbine... because that is the first question that's going to be asked when we take this document somewhere."

He suggested the council defer adopting the document for two months, which would allow time to sharpen it up as a pitch to parliamentarians. This alternate motion passed five votes to two.

Crs Jim Doukas and James Purcell both voted to delay adopting the document and allow time to consult the community on its contents.

Cr Doukas was concerned the 11 points didn't pay enough consideration to the near neighbours of the wind farms. He said the wind farm companies should provide funds dedicated to helping nearby residents undertake noise testing to take legal action against those same wind farms.

"There's no real funding for those that are affected," he said.

Wind farm opponent Viva-lyn Lenehan called the community benefit funds "blood money from the devil" in her regular newsletter, and said the council was trying to "extort money from wind farms" for its own use.

Cr Foster said the council would not itself benefit from any of the funds raised. "The companies would continue to work directly with the community to plan a suitable program, but we want those overall investments to reach a minimum standard so host communities are on a level playing field," she said.