Infigen engages residents on Cherry Tree

Residents of the Victorian town of Seymour attended an information session last week on the proposed $100 million Cherry Tree wind farm.
Details on the 56 megawatt wind energy farm were provided by Mitchell Shire Council and developer Infigen Energy and included photomontages of the visual impact the wind farm will have, as well as the planning application.
According to Infigen development manager Laura Dunphy, the majority of concerns voiced by residents were regarding the size of the project and any benefits offered to the community.
“There was a lot of interest in the community co-op idea – that is where Infigen intends to help the community develop a co-op to invest in a portion of the wind farm,” she said.
Infigen has lodged an application to build 16 turbines on the Cherry Tree Range. If successful, the development will have a potential capacity of 56 megawatts, however the due to the limitations of the 66 kV Seymour-Yea transmission line the initial operating capacity would be curbed to 40 megawatts, enough to power 23,000 homes.
Final submissions from the public regarding the project are expected this week.