‘Disgusting display': Millionaire under fire for striking deal with renewable giant to host mammoth wind turbines in rural NSW

Sky News AU

5 days ago

A millionaire who resides in one of Sydney's most exclusive suburbs has been scorned for striking a deal with a renewable energy giant to house massive wind turbines on his properties in rural NSW.
Residents in the regional NSW town of Bowning have claimed a renewable energy company's campaign to construct wind turbines taller than Sydney's Crown Tower throughout the local community is turning 'neighbour against neighbour."
The $1.6 billion Bendenine wind farm, spearheaded by renewable energy giant Wind Prospect, seeks to construct up to 90 wind farms in the Yass region in rural NSW.
The project, which is still currently in the initial feasibility phase, has generated widespread tension within the town after it was revealed major landowners had cut deals with the company to have the collosal turbines erected on their properties.
Will Kelly, who spends his time between a $7 million mansion in Sydney's Bellevue Hill on the eastern suburbs and an expansive family farm outside Yass, is set to house the vast majority of the turbines on his lands while his farming neighbours were left out of negotiations, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Kelly was pictured on Tuesday morning by The Daily Telegraph having a hit at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, which requires an entry fee of $25,000 and a yearly payment of $6,000.
When asked to confirm if he was hosting 60 of the 90 turbines on his lands he said 'it's not 60' and that the matter was 'confidential.'
Emma Webb, a third-generation wool farmer and Bowning local, told Sky News the consequences of the development were 'huge' and that the 'community, and our landscapes will never be the same again' if the project went ahead.
'Every day, I'm fielding phone calls from neighbours who are not coping with the stress. Farmers who have worked their entire lives to care for the land and whose entire wealth and legacy is tied up in that land who feel an overwhelming sense of powerlessness," Ms Webb told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
Ms Webb, whose family have lived in the Binalong-Bowning region since the 1950s, said there was a degree of 'moral superiority' in Wind Prospects attitude.
She said locals were asked if they wanted to keep the lights on which she blasted as "really condescending'.
'It was quite a disgusting display last week of arrogance and entitlement to the point where they just stopped trying to sell it to us, they just told us it's a state-significant project and we have a licence to do this from the very top and we're charging ahead in the face of overwhelming community opposition," Ms Webb said.
The mother of three said the saga was dividing 'neighbour against neighbour' and that the fight with 'developers is behinds closed doors and that's part of the problem, they have one-on-one meetings and that's a really big part of the problem.'
Local farmers have slammed the lucrative club of land owners, including Mr Kelly and his brother Sam who owns the conjoining property for arranging clandestine deals with Wind Prospect.
Many of Bowning's 1000 residents gathered at the town hall last week to interrogate Wind Prospect's senior executives and voice their outrage at their neighbours including the Kelly brothers who they say betrayed their trust and ruined their business models.
They said the imposition of the 260m high turbines would drastically reduce the value of their properties.
Glen Miller, a local sheep farmer, said at the meeting his land holdings formed the entirety of his livelihood, and that he had been 'paying the Commonwealth Bank for 40 years'.
The farmer said the wind turbines if approved would border his property and would substantially reduce his lands worth, and that he was mortified by the move.
Wind Prospects managing director Ben Purcell told the community forum concerns about a "30 to 40 per cent reduction" in land value were not necessarily a direct result of the proposed wind project and that there were a "lot of figures that influence land values".
A NSW government spokesman told The Daily Telegraph that 'Private landholders are able to make choices about how they develop their land, subject to planning approvals.'
Ms Webb said the community would 'continue to fight this. We love this place. This is my family's home. This is My children's future.'