Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CS
I am now focused on operations at the Bluff Point and Studland Bay Wind Farms
with Hydro Tasmania. The team and I are mostly involved in construction of
Musselroe Wind Farm and looking to further expand Tasmania's wind develop-
ments elsewhere.
TL
• I am the President of Birdlife Ballarat and a member of the Australasian Bat
Society. I am also the nature columnist for our local rural newspaper so I get to
hear a lot of community sentiment towards wind projects.
NW
• Planning Panels Victoria undertakes public enquiries for major projects includ-
ing wind farms.
SP
• My area of interest is in bioacoustics and echolocation. Since NZ bat fauna is
limited, I have moved more into research on birds and insects. I also do consul-
tancy work on bats - solving problems around developments including wind
farms and airport developments and practical solutions for these situations. I tend
to be brought in after consent has been granted and problems are more diffi cult
to solve.
Q: TP to CS - What are the matters of greatest interest or concern - what are your
key drivers when wanting to advance a project from a site you might have a
license for, to progressing it through the planning system?
CS
• At Hydro Tasmania we have a team of people that can undertake those fi rst basic
steps. It is key for us to have a team that can look at a project and evaluate it on
its merits and then determine which ecologists and specialists should be engaged.
• In a lot of cases we have engineers and project developers saying 'we want to
build an 800 MW project right there' but we can see at the start that this may
not be feasible and we need to understand key risks and constraints right from
the start.
Another important thing is to really look at the planning process and engage with
the ecologists to understand what it will take to get the project through the plan-
ning process. Having the preliminary discussion to determine what needs to be
done is going to be critical to getting it through.
You also need to understand who the key stakeholders are in the environment you
are working in - e.g. BirdLife Australia. It's important to have a good engage-
ment process with those key stakeholders too.
Q: TP to IS - Can you comment on the preliminary discussion. If you're speaking to
a prospective wind farm developer, there are statutory steps, but what is your
advice going to be to progress the ecological surveys?
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