Locals rejoiced yesterday when AGL withdrew plans for a controversial wind farm in Dollar, in Victoria’s south east. The company said it was a commercial decision, but there is another story to be told here, one about the power of citizens to repel dubious developments.  It all began in the Dumbalk Hall. From artists to dairy farmers, the community was united in their opposition to the windfarm proposal from Merridian, a New Zealand Government “company”.  They had already chosen the site according to new state government rules, negotiated prices with land owners and invested heavily in consultancies to prove the project was “environmentally friendly”. The next meeting was in Foster with nearly 1000 people turning up to hear David Bellamy, a vocal opponent of wind turbines in England, flown from the UK by 60 Minutes to address the meeting.  This was on the verge 2004 federal election yet the Labor member Christian Zara didn’t front either meeting. Russell Broadbent, the Liberal candidate, attended with a swag of National and Liberal politicians. He swore his opposition to the project. Come election night, a 45% swing in the southern part of the electorate ended Zara’s political career and re-installed Broadbent. The Victorian Labor Party had locked onto wind power from the executive to the branches. In their view “it was simply inevitable”, so local government was cut out of the the planning process which was reduced to special panel hearings, setting the well funded wind turbine companies up against small rural communities. Bypassing “the people” would prove to be a fatal misreading of the situation.  Over 1500 submissions were received by the panel, with the company and its consultants who overwhelmed by the community’s expertise. The hearings dragged on for more than two months and every aspect of windpower was scrutinised. As it turned out, the turbines had little effect on saving coal from being burnt. In one sensational moment, a “stoker” from a power station addressed the group, busting the myth that wind farms kept coal from being burned: 

It takes hours to turn a generator down. Grand Final day needs 25% extra power. Will the wind be blowin’? These farms don’t save a briquette.

The panel retired from its footy club hearing rooms, Merridian leased a prominent corner venue in Meeniyan, a nearby town, to garner pro wind energy support locally and lobby city tourists. The locals swung their attention to the impact of turbines on local birdlife and wrote an extraordinary number of letters to federal and state politicians.  Merridian eventually cracked and sold the project to AGL who asked the planning Minister, Justin Madden, to withhold the findings of the Panel which amazingly he did, leaving the locals in limbo. Property prices fell as friction grew between the community and farmers who were promised thousands of dollars for hosting the wind turbines. Some families sold up and moved on. Yesterday, locals were at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal after two FOI requests to release the panel’s findings had been rejected. Five minutes before the hearing AGL produced a three sentence letter saying that it had withdrawn its proposal — a move that handed victory to the locals but avoided the release of the planning panel’s report, finished two years ago. There’s a neat postscript to this story of unsuccessful bureaucratic bullying. The Toora windfarm has been plagued with breakdowns, with up to five turbines not working, yet the income from these projects is welcomed by the energy companies. Good citizens are voluntarily taking up the more expensive option of “green power” to save the world from “global warming”. Indeed, wind farms have many uses, and making small amounts of power is only one of them. Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or submit them anonymously here .