The wind tower conversation heats up

May 23, 2024

Nobody around Oberon could be unaware of the signs around the town opposing the location and construction of wind power turbines in the Oberon area. A particular issue with the proposals is that the turbine parts will have to be transported through O'Connell and the very wide and long loads will require that the trees in the ANZAC Memorial Avenue be cut back. The trees commemorate the town's servicemen and women who died in wars since the start of the 20th century and are a living War Memorial. The trees have been trimmed and pruned in the past, both for tree health (some of them are more than 100 years old) and for vehicle access and safety on O'Connell Road, but the wind tower transport proposals will almost certainly require more aggressive pruning.

The trees form a canopy over the road.

At the April meeting of Oberon Council, the Oberon Against Wind Towers group asked Council to place a heritage order on the trees, but made a more formal presentation at the May meeting, backed up by a comprehensive consultant's report setting out the grounds for such an order.

You can see the presentation by OAWT President Robert Snoch here
The report from GMT Heritage can be seen here.

The day after the May Council meeting, Wednesday, May 22, OAWT had a media briefing in O'Connell attended by local TV stations and the State MP, Paul Toole, and Oberon Matters went along. Statements were made by OAWT President Robert Snoch, Frank O'Connor (who has been leading the opposition to the wind towers since the 2021 legislation changes that allowed the Forestry Corporation to have the towers installed in state forests), Bill Wilcox from the Oberon RSL Sub Branch (who have an obvious interest in preserving the integrity of memorials) and Paul Toole, state MP for the local electorate.

It really is a War Memorial.

OAWT will be approaching the State Government to try to get a heritage order placed on the trees as soon as possible. It will be too late once the chainsaws are fired up.

See also: Media Release - Forestry Corporation Wind Towers

Paul Toole MP, Frank O'Connor and Bill Wilcox address the cameras and the crowd.

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Disclaimer: Oberon Matters has no opinion either way on the matter of wind towers near Oberon. This article is for public information only. Please see our position of total neutrality.

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