Scott River windfarm proposal ‘looks very good’ says shadow State energy minister Steve Thomas

State shadow energy minister Steve Thomas has expressed his support for an onshore wind farm near Scott River. Speaking to media on Monday, Dr Thomas said he believed the area 15km north east of Scott River currently under consideration by Synergy would be the right place for a wind farm project. “There are a number of proposals that I personally consider are quite reasonable proposals. I think the Scott River proposal looks very good,” he said. “I think there’s a couple of proposals much bigger east of Collie that look quite promising so there are plenty of onshore wind proposals that are currently under discussion. “There’s community consultation happening around those and that is a much more appropriate place.” The Scott River proposal has split residents, with some telling the Times they welcome the idea of having a wind farm built on their property while others said they believed the area wasn’t the right fit. Up to 30 wind turbines at a height of 250m could be included in the project, generating 10MW of power. Dr Thomas said wind farm farm projects onshore would need community consultation and public benefit. “The outcome is simply that companies that want to come in and build wind farms have to negotiate with landowners and there’s a benefit to the local community when you build them onshore,” he said. “Building them offshore means that they don’t have to consult with the community particularly well and the local community benefit is limited.” The South West is in the centre of a political struggle to control the State’s energy transition with coal-fired power stations in Collie set to be decommissioned over the next decade. While the Federal Government has moved ahead with plans for offshore wind off the Geographe Bay coastline, the Coalition is opposing the project and has opted for proposing a nuclear reactor in Collie. Dr Thomas said his party was not against renewables or windfarms, but said the Geographe Bay offshore wind farm proposal wasn’t right. “We’re not opposed to wind farms generally, there are plenty of locations, particularly onshore, that the Government should look at for wind farms in Western Australia,” he said.