Mid West local Kirsty Sinclair campaigning against offshore wind farm projects to protect WA coastline

Long-time Mid West local and educator Kirsty Sinclair has taken a bold step to help safeguard the pristine coastline that defines her community.

Ms Sinclair recently set up the Facebook page, Protect Our Coast, in a bid to raise awareness about potential detrimental impacts of proposed offshore wind farm projects along the WA coast.

“The ocean and our coast are the reason we live where we do,” she said. “It’s unique, pristine, and part of who we are.”

For Ms Sinclair and countless others, the coastline isn’t just a scenic backdrop — it’s a way of life and integral to the community’s identity and well-being.

“At the heart of my concern are the proposed offshore windfarm developments,” Ms Sinclair said.

“The current proposal would set a dangerous precedent for companies to pursue the possibility of building offshore windfarms off the coast of Kalbarri.”

Danish renewable energy developer Copenhagen Energy proposes up to 200 wind turbines and six substations to run 15km to 70km off the coast of Kalbarri.

Ms Sinclair paints a bleak picture of the potential consequences.

“Excavation and pile driving of our seabeds, burying and smothering of coral reefs and seafloor habitats, the creation of high-intensity, prolonged underwater noise and electromagnetic fields,” she said, believing these activities would not only disrupt delicate ecosystems but endanger marine species like various whales, turtles and fish.

“For Kalbarri residents, this development adds to the mounting challenges they face. They’re also battling the hydrogen plant that is planned for the north side of the Murchison River.”

In response, Kalbarri residents have formed the group Keep Kalbarri Beautiful to coordinate their opposition to both the hydrogen plant and offshore wind farm.

That group has lent its support to the Save Our Beloved Geographe Bay campaign in a bid to have the Bunbury Wind Area proposal rejected. The deadline for public consultation for that South West proposal is nearing and Ms Sinclair urges West Australians to make their voices heard.

When asked about alternatives to offshore windfarms, Ms Sinclair advocates for a holistic approach that prioritises conservation and education.

“There is no quick fix,” she said, instead calling for collective action and government investment in initiatives that promote energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.

On Copenhagen Energy’s Midwest Offshore Wind Farm website, it states the location of the turbines will be selected after stakeholder and community feedback and the company would continue with a wide range of offshore and onshore studies to better understand the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the project.

The separate Murchison Green Hydrogen Project — funded by international renewable energy investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partner’s (CIP) Energy Transition fund and managed by a Perth-based MGH team — involves 700 wind turbines, a solar PV farm covering 10,000ha, an ammonia production plant, 200 hydrogen storage vessels and an undersea pipeline within Murchison House Station north of Kalbarri.

Ms Sinclair said people could take the Australian Government survey about the Bunbury proposal at dcceew.gov.au before May 3 and sign the State petition calling for a ban of offshore wind farms in WA, which is available at saveourbelovedgeographebay.net

A change.org petition calling for heavy industry and offshore wind farms to be banned from Kalbarri has attracted more than 3000 signatures.

“Our WA coast needs us to speak up on its behalf,” Ms Sinclair said.