If you live in Victoria, particularly regional Victoria, it’s hard to avoid the wind energy discussion that has been going on in many local communities. This discussion is likely to continue as wind energy, being the most commercially viable large-scale clean energy technology available, is set to come into its own during the next decade thanks to the 20percent Renewable Energy Target (RET).

With this growth in wind energy comes responsibility for those who are seeking to deploy it, to do so in a way that respects the local environment and the communities that live within it. Rigorous planning assessments are already the norm in Victoria and the industry needs to continue to work diligently on building cohesive and productive partnerships with the communities that grant us permission to operate. In most cases this type of good corporate behaviour is the norm in the wind industry.

However, we know there are people who do not like wind energy and do not want to see it prosper. This presents a challenge for policy makers and regulators alike, as these relatively few people tend to attract a disproportionate amount of media attention, which can lead to a skewed view of the situation and some ‘interesting’ policy and regulatory responses.

One example of this occurred in June this year when Victorian Opposition leader Ted Baillieu announced the Coalition’s policy for wind farm planning and development, claiming it would “restore fairness and certainty”.

Among the major concerns for the wind energy industry is the proposal for minimum 2 kilometre (km) setbacks from dwellings in Victoria, unless a smaller setback is negotiated with the landholder. A 2 km setback creates an effective exclusion/negotiation zone of 13 square km around the dwelling. Given Victoria’s population spread it would see most of the state, and all of the most valuable wind energy resources, unavailable for wind farming at worst or at best, significantly harder to access.

This would be exacerbated by Mr Baillieu’s proposed ‘no-go’ zones, including areas such as the Surf Coast, the Macedon Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula. These zones are truly arbitrary, with no definition or guarantee that the list will not be extended in future.

The further exclusion of wind farms in designated tourist areas and regional population growth corridors places even greater restrictions on wind farming. The fact that many wind farms have themselves become tourist attractions further confuses this issue.

It is difficult for a private developer to continue to invest with this level of uncertainty that projects will progress under such a planning system.

Unfortunately the consequences of this arbitrary type of policy are that it creates uncertainty for developers and communities alike and places an unfair regulatory burden on wind energy development.

We are not aware of any other form of energy infrastructure that has such a restriction placed on it and in fact, when compared to how all other energy generation is treated, this policy would make it harder for a wind farm to be built in Victoria than a new coal-fired power station.

The policy announcement met with a very strong response from the wind industry, as in our view it creates neither fairness nor certainty. More importantly it was not seen as a positive development by many regional councils, business leaders or investors.

The end result of this for clean energy generation in Victoria is an increased burden on wind energy companies to negotiate with landholders for access to world class wind resources, and arbitrary planning conditions that would effectively kill the wind energy industry in Victoria.

This loss of jobs and investment in Victoria would be a gain for neighbouring states.

Both New South Wales and South Australia boast planning initiatives aimed at attracting wind energy development by removing barriers to the planning and approvals process.

In New South Wales, six renewable energy precincts have been designated which encompass the state’s best wind energy resources. Co-ordinators and advisory boards have been established within each precinct to streamline the planning and approvals process of wind farm proposals in the area. In addition, all wind farm proposals across the state greater than 30 megawatts are now deemed as critical infrastructure and are guaranteed a four-month turnaround on planning approvals. Critical infrastructure fees are also waived. This approach recognises the need for swift, meaningful action on climate change and the reality that changing our energy mix is central to achieving this.

Recent attempts to introduce minimum 2 km setbacks from dwellings for new wind farm developments in New South Wales have failed. In a test case in May 2010, the Gullen Range wind farm successfully defended an appeal from a local objector calling for a 2 km setback, with the Land and Environment Court ruling that the setback was “arbitrary” and had “no basis upon which [they] could regard” it. While some members of the upper house of the New South Wales parliament have proposed minimum setbacks, the NSW Government has rejected this approach, opting instead to continue to encourage wind energy development in the state.

In South Australia, renewable energy development is so highly valued that in 2009, the Government announced a state renewable energy target of 33 per cent by 2020. In line with this, the Government established RenewablesSA, an authority tasked with continuing to remove barriers to renewable energy development in the state. South Australia maintains very swift processing of planning and development applications in relation to the other states, and recently announced payroll tax rebates for wind energy projects over the next four years.

The passing of the enhanced 20 per cent RET into law in June provides strong opportunities for all states to capture a share of the investment and jobs that will come with 8–10 gigawatts of new utility-scale renewable energy projects. However policies like that of the Victorian Opposition will only ensure that the investment and jobs flow to states with clear, stable and fair policies for renewable energy planning and approvals processes.