Paragliding on Mt Spring
A letter to The Editor of Soaring Australia - by Barry Oliver
Recently, I wrote an article in Soaring Australia about free-flying in the Canberra area. In that article I mentioned a proposal to build wind turbines on Spring Range, the main site in the Canberra area. The small size of this site would make it too dangerous to fly if the turbines go ahead. The site is privately owned but the ridge is divided down the centre by a boundary fence. If one owner rejected the turbines they could easily have gone on the other side of the fence. It is nearly the perfect scenario for the energy company and the worst scenario for the flying community. This letter is to raise awareness of the potential problems at many existing flying sites in Australia.
Due to our dispersed political power, suggestions to locate turbines elsewhere are likely to fall on deaf ears. In addition, we run the risk of prematurely losing sites because landowners (public and private) won’t want to lose the income from the turbines if they are rejected because of our sport. It is a truly horrible dilemma for us and once again highlights the importance of the HGFA and/or clubs purchasing or arranging long-term access to sites.
The sole instructor operating in Canberra has indicated he would suffer considerably if the turbines go ahead at Spring Range. It is the main training site in the region. About 70% of local pilot flying time is at Spring Range.
Recently, Lake George, the second major flying site near Canberra has also been proposed as a turbine site. At this stage it is not clear if they will jeopardize flying at the Lake. Some sites may accommodate both flying and turbines, but many will not.
There has been considerable opposition to wind turbines on a broad range of issues. These include questions about the motives of the financial backers (often overseas companies that obtain tax concessions for the investment), where much of the impact on the local environment and local communities is hidden or severely underestimated. Issues about whether they make any significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions or transfer the problem elsewhere have also been raised. Some say they are noisy others say they are not, some say they kill birds others say they do not. There is an enormous amount of misinformation and very little policy direction at government level. What I do know is that they tear local communities apart and they will destroy paragliding and hang gliding in the Canberra area if they go ahead at Spring Range. There are no other equally suitable paragliding and hang gliding sites in the area.
If you are like me and believe we should reduce our greenhouse gases but you are also concerned about the impact of wind turbines on our sport, contact the Spring Range Landscape Guardians: http://www.springrange.org.au/ for information on what you can do. Maybe you need support now to help protect your local sites in the future.