Hamish Cumming takes wind farm challenge to High Court because government didn’t approve it fairly
A brolga enthusiast who has already racked up about $500,000 in legal bills will continue his fight to have the $1.5 billion Golden Plains wind farm planned for northwest of Geelong scrapped in Australia’s highest court.
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A brolga enthusiast will fight to have the $1.5 billion Golden Plains wind farm planned for northwest of Geelong scrapped in Australia’s highest court.
Squaring off against the state government and wind farm developer Westwind Energy, farmer Hamish Cumming has asked the High Court to consider if the process that approved the 228-turbine wind farm, to be built across 17,000haat Rokewood, was fair.
Despite an estimated legal bill of $500,000, Mr Cumming has entered the next round of his David-and-Goliath fight following unsuccessful appeals in the Victorian Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal in August.
The wind farm, with turbines due to spin blades at up to 230m above the ground, is crucial to the state government’s legislated plan to source 40 per cent of the state’s power from renewable energy by 2025, and 50 per cent by 2030. The Golden Plains wind farm could contribute up to half of the 2025 target.
Mr Cumming’s application to appeal centres on a letter Westwind sent the state government in late 2018 that attempted to change the project’s turbine layout to maximise the wind farms output.
He said the letter should have been shared with him because it contained information he was not privy to during an independent planning panel process that informed the planning minister’s decision to approve the project.
Planning Minister Richard Wynne said in court documents the letter had no bearing on his decision to approve the wind farm which was made days after he received the letter.
“The 9 November 2018 letter provided new information to the Minister, in the sense that
it provided information to the Minister that was not considered by the Panel,” Mr Cumming’s court documents read.
“The content of the letter was new (and contained) further modelling (and) ... the submission that it was ‘essential’ to allow for a maximum of 228 turbines and the proposed amendments to the permit conditions.”
In appeal documents Mr Cumming said the information contained in the letter should have been considered by a planning panel that reported on the merit of the project.
“That new information (in the letter) was different from, but related to, the matters addressed in the hearings before the panel.
Appeal documents lodged by Mr Cumming’s barrister Allan Myers QC, who is chancellor at the Melbourne university, states “because the information was adverse to the (Mr Cumming’s) position, and credible, relevant and significant, the minister was required to disclose to (him) the substance of the 9 November 2018 letter” to allow him “ an opportunity to respond.”
Mr Cumming has previously told the Geelong Advertiser strict bufferzones are needed
around the Golden Plains wind farm to protect the threatened brolga which inhabit the area, and which he has tracked for 30 years.
He will have to wait to find out if the High Court allows his appeal.
Originally published as Hamish Cumming takes wind farm challenge to High Court because government didn’t approve it fairly