Hills of Gold wind farm 'photomontage' does little to allay Nundle opposition

The developer of the planned 78-turbine Hills of Gold wind farm released the seven photos last week.

Proponent Wind Energy Partners, which was not obligated to produce the images yet, said they did so after community requests, and in the interests of transparency.

Hills of Gold Preservation Society member Megan Trousdale said the preliminary photos show the development will dominate the village.

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"For over two years people in the community have only been able to guess or imagine what the turbines would look like on the range," she said.

"The reality is worse than what was imagined.

"For instance approaching Nundle from the west, the photomontage there shows 40 turbines will be visible."

In 2018 the society, which opposes the project, claimed the "high visual impact" of the turbines would drive away tourists from the town.

Wind Energy Partners has long said the project will not be visible from most of Nundle.

But in an interview today managing director Jamie Chivers said it was up to the community whether they thought the visual impact of the project was too great.

"It's for the community to decide what their perception of the visual impact is," he said.

"It's not my role to speak on behalf of the community.

"What we have done is provide montages to ensure transparency and ensure people understand what is proposed. I think these pictures, they tell a lot of the story."

Each 'photomontage' superimposes a computer-generated image of a wind turbine at scale over a real image taken from locations around town.

The seven photos were taken from Nundle Road, Jenkins Street, Crawney Road, Nundle Cemetery, Point Street, Hanging Rock Lookout and Morrisons Gap Road around Nundle.

Hills of Gold Preservation Society want an even better idea of what the project will look like and at a consultation meeting on Wednesday night were due to ask the company for additional images from other locations around town.

"It's all about there being no surprises," Ms Trousdale said.

"If this project is approved you don't want anyone in the community saying we didn't know it looked like that.

"We know that has happened in other communities."

Ms Trousdale, who is the communications sub-committee chair for the society, occupies a heritage-listed building in Jenkins Street. When she steps out, she'd see turbines, she said.

"There's no compromise on this proposal as far as I'm concerned; I want no turbines on that ridge as far as I'm concerned."

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Any visual impact could be exacerbated by an air safety obligation. Australian wind farms are often required to install blinking red lights on the turbine blades, for air safety reasons.

Mr Chivers said the company intended to install lights on nearby generators, not turbine blades, which would reduce their visibility from the ground.

He said the company were also "investigating" technology that would keep the lights dormant until it detected an approaching plane.

A full visual impact report will be included in the scheme's environmental impact statement, as part of its development application. Mr Chivers said they will produce about 25 photos for their DA.

The photos do not include ancillary infrastructure like sub-stations and operations and maintenance centres.

Wind Energy Partners is on the clock and must produce the DA and environmental impact statement within seven months.