Mt Magnet Shire reject Horizon Power’s proposed renewable energy, saying wind farm is unattractive to look at

Mt Magnet has rejected plans from Horizon Power to build wind turbines to deliver power supply to two Mid West towns, describing the turbines as “unattractive”. Horizon Power had previously identified Cue and Mt Magnet as two locations with the potential to host wind turbines and suggested four options for preferred power generation. But during the Shire of Mt Magnet’s council meeting on August 31, councillors deemed the turbines as “unattractive to look at” and voted that Horizon Power provide an alternative power supply. The council also noted wind turbine power was expensive to replace and only offered a short lifespan of 15 years. Options presented to council for consideration included 80 per cent power generation from solar panels with battery storage and gas generator, requiring two to three hectares of land, or 100 per cent power generation from solar panels with battery storage, requiring 5ha of land. A third option was for 80 per cent power generation with solar panels, batteries, four wind turbines and gas generator, requiring 50ha of land. The final option was 100 per cent power generation with solar panels, batteries and seven turbines, requiring 90ha of land. The council said the executive opinion was that developments in technology would likely result in alternatives with less impact on the environment by the time the proposed turbines required replacement. “To replace wind turbines that have reached their end of life will always attract significant infrastructure and materials cost, with the entire turbines needing to be buried in landfill,” the council noted. Shire of Mt Magnet president Jorgen Jensen said: “The Shire was not in favour of wind turbines for the simple fact that we didn’t like the aesthetics of it. “For the extra land usage required for four wind turbines, we would prefer to see solar panels put down.” The council also said the rendered images provided by Horizon Power with the placement of turbines “demonstrate there will be little visual impact of the turbines due to their location away from town and the highway”.