Victoria steps in to protect state’s biggest wind project from legal challenges

Plans to build one of Australia’s largest wind farms in Victoria’s Golden Plains Shire have received a kick-along from the state government, with an amendment to planning laws that will essentially allow the project to proceed in the face of protracted legal challenges.

The State Significant Golden Plains wind farm, which is being developed by WestWind Energy, proposes install up to 1300MW of wind generation capacity and a big battery near Rokewood, around 60km north-west of Geelong.

But the project has had a difficult path to progress, despite securing all required state government approvals and gaining strong support from the local Rokewood community – including a GoFundMe campaign and Facebook page (see video below).

Since receiving its first set of approvals from the Andrews Labor government in 2018, it has been dogged by legal challenges – headed up by the same lawyer behind the battle against fellow Victorian wind project, Bald Hills – seeking to block the project.

These challenges, brought by brolga enthusiast and mechanical engineer Hamish Cumming – who is not local to the area – last year failed to get a hearing in the High Court of Australia, having already been defeated in the Victorian Supreme Court and, in August of 2020, the Court of Appeal.

During the course of those failed legal challenges, WestWind submitted an amendment to its plans – adjusting the project’s layout mostly due to advances in technology (bigger, higher powered turbines) over the time elapsed.

The amended plans were approved by Victoria’s planning minister, Richard Wynne, in November of last year.

But, as the planning department writes in an official Explanatory Note on its intervention for Golden Plains, the amended planning permit is now the subject of further legal challenge, by the same bunch.

“This latest legal challenge will further delay the project and this amendment is required to allow this significant renewable energy project to progress,” the note says.

“The amendment will provide for the fair, orderly, economic and sustainable use and development of the land by facilitating the use and development of the Golden Plains Wind Farm in an expedient manner ensuring that the benefits of the project are realised in the short term.

“The project will contribute to the Victorian government’s renewable energy transition and contribute to the state achieving its net zero emissions target for 2050, whilst also providing the economic benefits of jobs both in the construction and operation of the facility,” it says.

WestWind, which requested the intervention by the planning department, backed by its equity investor in the project, Tag Energy, is keen to get on and build the project.

“This approval provides our financiers more certainty to commence preliminary construction works on the Golden Plains Wind Farm Development,” said WestWind COO Marla Brauer.

“This decision is great news for the project and a welcome response from the minister consistent with Victoria state government’s strong support for the renewable energy industry.”

According a report in the Geelong Advertiser (behind paywall), the Victorian government Solicitor’s Office special counsel Mark Egan has advised that in light of the amendment, Cumming should reassess whether to proceed with the legal challenge.

“This decision … (provides) plaintiffs with an opportunity to consider discontinuing the proceeding,” Egan wrote in a letter to Ms Tannock last month, according to the paper.

Tannock, however, appears as keen as ever to pursue the case.

“We are going to challenge the (minister’s) amendment to the planning scheme,” she told the same paper.