Liberals’ Brooke Vitnell vows to protect ‘pristine’ Port Stephens from wind farms

A Liberal candidate vying for a crucial Hunter Valley seat has set out to “protect” coastal communities from obstructive offshore wind farms.

Vowing to protect the “pristine” views along the NSW coast line, a Liberal candidate vying to win a key Hunter Valley seat will stand against large offshore wind farms visible from land.

Paterson hopeful Brooke Vitnell has declared she will “protect” Port Stephens and other coastal communities from proposed ”inappropriate wind farm developments” in the region if elected to parliament.

Ms Vitnell told The Daily Telegraph there were a number of large wind farm proposals targeting the Newcastle and Port Stephens area, including at least one which would be “visible from our communities” as it involved the construction of turbines up to four times larger than their land based equivalents.

“Any such development would negatively impact on the visual amenity of our pristine environment and would likely have environmental effects that have not been fully explained to the public,” she said.

No projects have been submitted for environmental approval at this time, but OceanEx and BlueFloat/Energy Estate are looking to build offshore wind farms in the Illawarra and Hunter.

Brooke Vitnell, Liberal candidate for Paterson, on the banks of the picturesque Hunter River at Raymond Terrace. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Of the four high-profile offshore wind farm schemes proposed in NSW, two are in the Hunter.

OceanEx chief executive Andy Evans has said the company “certainly see the Illawarra and Newcastle-Hunter as the two standout Australian projects”.

Nick Sankey of BlueFloat Energy, which together with Energy Estate plans to build a floating wind farm off the Hunter coast, said the turbines “will be visible” from the shore.

“We are currently conducting some visual simulations to assess what they would look like from the shoreline, and that will be part of determining how far out these turbines will go,” he said.

Ms Vitnell accused her opponent, Labor MP Meryl Swanson who holds the Paterson electorate on a margin of five per cent, of being “silent” on the critical issue.

“This is especially concerning given that her close colleague the Labor Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon has expressed enthusiastic support for coastal wind farms off our region,” Ms Vitnell said.

Ms Vitnell says incumbent Labor MP Meryl Swanson (left) has been “silent” on the proposed developments. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

Ms Claydon told the parliament in October last year the government “must move
quickly” to award licences for wind farms so the industry could “get on with the job.”
“It‘s regions, indeed, like Newcastle and the Hunter which have the most to gain from a thriving offshore wind industry,” Ms Claydon said.

While there are currently no offshore wind farm projects operating in Australia, the Morrison Government has developed draft regulations to pave the way for the industry.

During this election campaign, Assistant Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Tim Wilson has backed offshore wind as a key source of renewable energy and a jobs creator.

Mr Wilson said “supportive policy frameworks” proposed by the government would give the private sector the ”critical signals required to pursue their investment decisions with confidence”.

Originally published as Liberals’ Brooke Vitnell vows to protect ‘pristine’ Port Stephens from wind farms