North Head: Wind turbines, solar farm plan via The Global Warming Solution
Last year more than 30,000 people signed a tongue-in-cheek petition for wind turbines along the northern beaches. But now momentum is building as a crowdfunding group is looking to raise money to set up a wind and solar farm at North Head.
Manly
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A crowdfunding initiative has been launched to help build a wind and solar farm at the gateway to Sydney at North Head in Manly.
Founder and managing director of The Global Warming Solution Roger Bain, said he wanted to build eight 100m high wind turbines along the ocean side of North Head and a one hectare solar farm behind the International College of Management School.
He said the wind turbines dotted along Ballerina Park on the eastern side of North Head would not be seen from lookout points facing towards Sydney Harbour.
But he admitted they would be seen from other headlands along the peninsula looking south, and also from the ocean and the harbour.
He said he was also hoping to get the backing of independent MP Zali Steggall who he said was an advocate for action on climate change, at a constituency drop-in day on September 10.
However, Ms Steggall said while she was yet to see the proposal but she was doubtful that a “sensitive environmental and culturally significant area like North Head is the appropriate location”.
“There is strong support for rooftop solar in Warringah and lots of sunshine so I think that is the more appropriate clean energy source,” she said.
When Ms Steggall was elected last year a change.org petition was launched with the hashtag #windfarmsforwarringah calling for wind turbines along the peninsula’s beaches.
It attracted 31,000 signatures, with many of those commenting that it was time for “woke voters” in Warringah to “lead the way” and have these “monstrosities” in their own backyard.
National Parks and Wildlife Services confirmed it was aware of the proposal but said wind and solar farms are not permissable in national parks and therefore it wasn’t being pursued.
Nevertheless, Mr Bain, who lives in the city, said he understood there was a management plan for national parks which is regularly reviewed around public opinion.
“This doesn’t faze me,” he said. “We are in this for the long term and we will pursue it. There’s always resistance to change at first.”
Mr Bain said his idea was a serious proposition and was about creating a “sustainable city”.
He said he would be investing a significant amount of his own money into marketing the idea in order to win public support.
He said he had identified three potential sites in Sydney, but North Head was his first project.
Mr Bain, who comes from a long line of investment bankers, is also proposing to build a sustainability education centre at North Head – not linked to the one put forward by Northern Beaches Council.
He said his crowd-funding concept was 15 years in the making and in a survey, 79 per cent of Australians were willing to contribute to renewable energy.
“Australians are overwhelmingly in support of climate action, and research shows that they want to contribute to initiatives that directly tackle global warming beyond their day-to-day consumer choices,” Mr Bain said.
However, State MP for Manly James Griffin was less enthusiastic about the proposal saying it was a “big, fat no” from him and the NSW Government.
“This is not the best use of national park land,” he said.
He said he could not support a proposal for wind turbines at the “entry into Sydney”.
He said North Head was not an appropriate location for this project and there were other areas that had been allocated as renewable energy zones in NSW that were more suitable.
North Head land is split between National Parks and Wildlife run by the State Government and the Sydney Harbour Trust, an independent body.
The wind and solar farms are on state land.