An application to the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council Development Assessment Panel will be discussed on Friday night, February 19, when six of the objectors have asked to be heard.

Wind Prospect has developed wind farms in the Mid North in the Brown Hill Ranges near Hallett and has planning approval to construct the fourth in a series of wind farms in that district.

There have been increasing objections to wind farm development in the Mid North, with a number of community meetings and legal action by residents, with an appeal currently before the court concerning the Hallett Stage 3 wind farm at Mt Bryan.

The temporary 50m tall wind monitoring mast, attached by guy wires, aims to help Wind Prospect collect data for future wind farm activities and is proposed to be erected for up to two years.

If approved, it will be located on the Old Burra road on the boundary between the Regional Council of Goyder and Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council.

A public notice of the proposal called for responses, and out of the 52 received, three were in favour, one neutral and 48 opposing.

Reasons for objecting to the monitoring mast included the assumption it would be ancillary to a wind farm, which would result in a proliferation of similar developments.

Concerns were raised for the preservation of local heritage and history, loss of property value, social issues, ecological and environmental impact and increased noise levels.

Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council planning staff recommended the panel approve the monitoring mast because it is considered to not be seriously at variance with the provisions of the council’s development plan.

Council principal planner David Case said any application going before the Development Assessment Panel was considered under the development plan’s provisions.

“It appears that objectors have established a direct link between what has been applied for and a wind farm, but the application is for a wind monitoring mast only.

“Staff have provided information so that the decision makers of the panel are able to have regard to properly made submissions,” Mr Case said.