THE PROPOSED WINDFARM IN YARROWYCK NSW
WILL DESTROY 35,000 HECTARES OF WOODLANDS
Save Our Woodlands are not against renewable energy, but we DO NOT want solar factories and wind farms situated where they will destroy our endangered woodlands.
85% of woodlands in NSW have been wiped out, we need to preserve what we have left — not bulldoze it away for the sake of a windfarm.
There are over 150 endangered and vulnerable species indigenous to our woodlands including the Regent Honey Eater, Swift parrot and threatened Koala.
Do you think we need to lose any more of their habitat?
WE SUPPORT SOLAR & WIND FARMS IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS
According to EDF Renewables, the proposed wind farm in Yarrowyck, NSW will be 50 km long – again their figures – which is more than 50 km of roads and another 50 km of clearing for power lines plus clearing the area around the wind turbines approximately one ha (2.4 acres).
THE SOLUTION?
Keep in mind that the numbers above do NOT take into account the massive amount of land that will be required for transmission lines from the proposed wind farm in Yarrowyck…
BUT as Save Our Woodlands Chairperson Arlene Packer writes:
There is a solution. Rather than destroy woodlands and even more land with the installation of transmission lines across NSW…
We already have a corridor through the middle of NSW with the inland rail, we do not need another corridor which is disruptive and expensive for the state taxpayers.
If the transmission lines follow the inland rail corridor then we can move the whole New England Renewable Energy Zone – including the proposed Yarrowyck wind farm to Western NSW.
New England has biodiversity that is critical to endangered species and it has endangered eco-system status.
New England is also extremely valuable from the perspective of agriculture as it is part of only 4% of Australia which is arable.
Another reason New England should be preserved and protected for agriculture is the fact that it is a high rainfall zone.
If we can persuade the powers that be to relocate the proposed Yarrowyck wind farm we can protect endangered ecosystems instead of destroying them with wind and solar industrial parks.
Western NSW has a much smaller population than New England and along with the rainfall levels being less, the agricultural value is far less.
Western Australia does not have endangered ecosystems like New England does.
This is not to say that there will not be some environmental impact, but if the proposed Yarrowyk wind farm is relocated to Western NSW, the damage will be less extensive.
Western NSW is advantageous for other reasons.
For example, there is more sunlight and wind, and the country is flat — making the setting up of solar and wind farms much easier.
Keep in mind that to get to New England from Newcastle, transport companies have to come over three mountain ranges, The Blue Mountains, The Liverpool Range and the Moonbi Range.
Transportation of equipment to western NSW from the deep sea port of Portland Victoria would mean dealing with a small section of mountains rather than the massive amounts of rocks and hillsides that are present in New England
You can help us persuade our elected officials to change direction and put our transmission lines where it is the most economically feasible – saving taxpayers their hard-earned dollars – and where lines will do the least amount of environmental harm.
Tell your elected officials that Renewable Energy needs to change their plans and build in Western NSW, instead of in New England.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Click here to contact the Prime Minister of Australia:
Contact your local State member:
The Honourable Adam Marshall MP
northerntablelands@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Telephone: (02) 6772 5552
Contact your Federal member:
The Honourable Barnaby Joyce MP
https://barnabyjoyce.com.au/contact
Toll Free telephone: 1300301 839
Contact the Federal Minister for the Environment:
The Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP
minister.plibersek@dcceew.gov.au
Telephone: (02) 9379 0700
Contact the State Minister for the Environment:
The Hon. James Griffin MP
manly@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Telephone: (02) 9976 2773
Contact the Uralla Shire Council and its representatives:
Send an email to
council@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Mayor Robert Bell
Telephone 0434 244 774
Email mayor@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Robert Crouch
Deputy Mayor
Telephone 0428 616 885
E mail rcrouch@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Tim Bower Councillor
Telephone 0421 704 598
Email tbower@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Sarah Burrows
Telephone 0428 055 860
Email sburrows@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Leanne Doran
Telephone 0488 559 928
Email ldoran@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Bruce McMullen
Telephone 0419 013 560
Email bmcmullen@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Tom O'Connor
Telephone 0460 649 700
Email TPOconnor@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Lone Petrov
Telephone 0427 784 760
Email lpetrov@uralla.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Tara Toomey
Telephone 0434 408 163
Email ttoomey@uralla.nsw.gov.au
SAMPLE LETTER | TALKING POINTS
IF you need help with what to write or what to say when calling (or leaving a voice mail).
Please feel free to copy and paste the following as is, or edit and add to it.
Feel free to use this URL in your email: saveourwoodlands.org/windfarms
Dear _______________________,
I/We respectively wish to register our opposition to the wind farm at Yarrowyck and Booralong proposed by EDF Renewables.
I/We are not against renewable energy BUT the Yarrowyck/ Booralong area is a precious environmental resource with high biodiversity and is home to the critically endangered regent honeyeater, swift parrot on their migratory routes and the endangered koala.
Windfarms kill both birds and bats which do not recognise that the blades are turning, and large areas of woodland will have to be destroyed to accommodate the wind turbines.
There are thousands of hectares of bare hills in the Uralla shire which could support windfarms without destroying Yarrowyck woodlands.
We have already destroyed 85% of the woodlands in NSW -- now it is time to stop and consider if we want to live in a desert.
There is no point in trying to save the planet with renewable energy while destroying the environment.
Respectfully,
Include your full name,
mailing address and
phone number.
Save Our Woodlands is an environmentally conscious group of volunteers dedicated to preserving threatened birds, animals and ecosystems in the woodlands of New South Wales, Australia.
Only 15% of our woodlands remain, the rest has been cleared for agriculture.
Save Our Woodlands Inc. secures and protects woodlands in NSW and pays landholders, in perpetuity, to conserve, enhance and re-establish native woodlands on THEIR land, and to manage these woodlands, so they are maintained.
BUT we need YOUR help. Together we can bring about change. Please consider donating.
People tend to think that woodlands are “just bush,” consequently, over 85% of the native woodlands in New South Wales, Australia have been replaced by agriculture.
Donate $10 per month & help protect critical habitats. By doing so YOU will prevent further species from extinction.
Our work is only possible with your support.
