Nundle wind farm: Tamworth Regional Council will not support the wind farm, airs 'serious concerns' in development submission

A litany of issues from traffic impacts, intrusions onto private property, a lack of information about preservation of threatened species and a low-ball offer of funds for community projects were pinned down in the council's damning submission to the Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment (DPIE).

"Council has serious concerns regarding the potential environmental and social impacts of the proposed development and is unable to satisfy itself due to the lack of detail regarding construction, operational and ongoing management aspects of the project," TRC Planning and Compliance director Gina Vereker wrote in the submission.

"It is for these reasons that TRC cannot support the approval of the Hills of Gold Wind Farm proposal in its current form."

The $30 million state-significant Hills of Gold Wind Farm proposal would see 70 wind turbines installed on the outskirts of the rural community.

It will be decided by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) or Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes.

It's a big decision for the council, which will meet on Tuesday for the first time this year to formally endorse the submission.

During peak construction, the council submits traffic in Nundle would more than quadruple on the school run as the town is prepared for blades of up to 83m long to be trucked in.

One of the suggested routes to bring the blades in along the head of Peel Road would involve intrusions onto the properties of local landowners.

The council noted that not everyone is supportive of the wind farm and in fact, on that route, it's "quite the opposite".

Issues with safety for both the community, property and local flora and fauna were highlighted in the submission.

It argues the development application is silent on a contingency plan in the event of a blade-throw or other catastrophic failure and how replacement parts would be brought in.

There had been "no assessment" of threatened species in the areas impacted by the wind turbines and it still wasn't clear how the turbines would impact catastrophic bushfire outbreaks like the one that hit the community in 2019, the submission read.

And, the council doesn't support the proposal to build a new road through the Devils Elbows with a road through the local heritage listed Black Snake Gold Mine; that helped give the town its moniker the Hills of Gold.

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Proponents of the wind farm have offered $2500 per wind turbine installed for use on community projects to be shared with Liverpool Plains and Upper Hunter councils.

It's a figure the council described as "very modest" considering the parts are much larger than existing wind farms.

If the project looks like it might be approved, the council has requested further involvement with the proponents and DPIE about the issues it identified in its submission.

It wants to provide conditions of consent should the project get the go-ahead.