Fortescue wind and battery project near regional airfield gets all-clear from council

A wind farm and battery proposed for development by Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Group in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia has been given the all clear by the local council, after being rejected by state planning authorities over its impact on the safe operation of a local airfield.

Southern Cross Wind applied for planning approval in December 2023 to install up to 10 wind turbines and up to 10MWh of battery storage on a privately owned farm land around 12km south-east of the Yilgarn Shire town of Southern Cross.

But the WA State Development Assessment Panel (DAP) deferred its decision on the project pending the completion of a revised Aviation Assessment, due to its location within 10 nautical miles of the Southern Cross aerodrome.

According to the council website, the dual runway aerodrome is located around 3km east of Southern Cross and is mainly used for recreation (Southern Cross Aero Club) and for the Royal Flying Doctor Service – although it has also previously been used for fly-in fly-out mine workers.

The aviation assessment found that minor adjustments would need to be made to the aerodrome to safely accommodate the wind farm, but the Regional Development Assistance Program ruled that without a signed legal agreement covering costs of these adjustments, they could not support its development.

This effectively put the ball back in the court of the Shire, as the owner of the aerodrome. And in July, Yilgarn Shire Council formally endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding with Southern Cross Wind that is said to have resolved “all aviation matters and cost arrangements,” clearing the way for the project’s approval.

At the time, the council noted that the lack of a formal agreement was the “only real impediment” to the previous application being supported. The project received only one submission objecting to its development, from a local landholder concerned around land use and decommissioning.

“The Shire ultimately has the final say over any procedural changes as they own the aerodrome,” a town planning report says in the council minutes from an meeting earlier this month.

“Although a legal agreement has not been reached, the Shire chief executive officer is satisfied that Council’s interests are covered by the current Memorandum of Understanding,” the minutes say.

The council voted unanimously in favour of approving the project, subject to conditions, at the August meeting.