The Victorian Government has decreed that wind farms are prohibited in places like the Mornington Peninsula and the Bellarine Peninsula, due to their “landscape and environmental values”.
Ditto for those occupying lifestyle properties in the Yarra, Dandenong and Macedon ranges. No wind farms allowed.
The coastal area of the Great Ocean Road is also in a wind farm prohibited zone.
The only wind farm in the Goulburn Valley is the 58 Megawatt Cherry Tree Wind Farm near Trawool, which has 16 turbines.
Fera Australia is proposing to build a wind farm in the Strathbogie Ranges near Seymour with between 80 and 100 turbines.
The wind farm exclusion areas were established by the former coalition government in Victoria, but haven’t been changed by the current Labor government.
“This prohibits wind development in specific areas but doesn’t prohibit other types of power system development like transmission lines, and batteries or solar,” VicGrid says.
The planning amendments banned the development of wind farms in some of the windiest parts of the state, including the Macedon Shire and the McHarg ranges in the Yarra Valley, the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas, and within five kilometres of the Great Ocean Road and the Bass Coast.
VicGrid is putting in place a long-term strategic plan, the Victorian Transmission Plan, to prepare for Victoria’s energy needs over the next 15 years.
VicGrid has released the draft Victorian Transmission Plan Guidelines that outlines the methodology to be used to develop the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, along with a map that shows the parts of Victoria that we’ll investigate further for potential future renewable energy and transmission development.
Submissions close on August 25. Go to: https://engage.vic.gov.au/victransmissionplan
