23 Mar 2012
The largest wind farm developer in New South Wales has complained of exorbitant State Government planning fees-which it says create a significant barrier to investment in renewable energy. Andrew Durran from the renewable company Epuron says planning fees for wind farms in New South Wales are significantly higher than in other states."The costs applied to wind farms are exorbitant and that planning fee needs to be addressed to make sure that we can continue to develop high quality wind farms in New South Wales", he said. "For a project that you'd expect to pay $15,000 for a planning fee in Victoria, you could pay well over $1 million in New South Wales. "Our recommendation is that we cap planning fees in New South Wales".
Labor temporarily reduced wind farm planning fees in 2009-but proponents are again having to pay the full price. Labor MP Luke Foley says the O'Farrell Government has been relentlessly hostile to renewable energy. "Every possible roadblock is put in the way of the development of the wind industry", he said. The Premier has previously said if it was up to him no new wind farms would be approved.
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