Friday 3 November 2006

Parrot pundits back wind farm

Australian
Thursday 2/11/2006, Page: 2

ENVIRONMENT Minister Ian Campbell is under renewed pressure to approve the Bald Hills wind farm after the project won conditional support from orange-bellied parrot experts.

And the company that wrote the report Senator Campbell relied on to veto the wind farm confirmed it did not provide an assessment of the impact of the Victorian farm on the bird.

Senator Campbell blocked the $220 million project this year, citing a perceived threat to the parrot. He agreed to reconsider the project and accept new submissions after legal action from the developer, Wind Power Pty Ltd.

In a submission to Senator Campbell, the orange-bellied parrot recovery team says the threat posed to the parrot by the project was "small and is amenable to being offset by targeted management actions".

Senator Campbell said yesterday he would await fresh advice from his department - which has previously supported the wind farm - before announcing his decision.

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