Farmers cash in on land windfall

Wind farm developments around South Australia are delivering income to farmers and other landholders. With property owners netting up to $5000 a year in lease payments for each wind turbine on their land, the industry is injecting valuable income into regional communities. Today, Energy Minister Patrick Conlon will launch the construction phase of Australia's largest wind farm at Wattle Point on the Yorke Peninsula. The $180 million Southern Hydro project comprises 55 turbines on 17ha and will generate 91MW, enough to power the entire peninsula and feed surplus energy to the state's electricity grid. Figures from the Australian Wind Energy Association reveal SA has proposed wind farm projects worth $3.7 billion.

The associated lease payments to landholders will potentially total $7 million a year. SA now has 215 turbines built or under construction at six sites and planning approval has been given for a further nine wind farms. Yorke Regional Development Board officer Peter Stockings said the undisclosed lease payments to seven landholders at Wattle Point was compensation for disturbance and disruption on their land. "The land down there is not the most heavily productive country you get, so this is an added bonus," he said. In addition, about 90 construction jobs will be created. "There wouldn't be a business in Edithburgh that is not directly benefiting in some way," Mr Stockings said.

Liberal Member for Flinders Liz Penfold said Eyre Peninsula farmers were also benefiting from wind farm projects. She said some were receiving payments of thousands of dollars to simply hold their land for potential future wind farm developments. "It's a very reliable income that they get every year," Ms Penfold said. Mr Conlon said SA would become the leading state in Australia for wind-energy generation, with regional areas the greatest beneficiary. "We will be very well placed in a world where carbon emissions will increasingly attract a financial penalty," he said.