The Queensland Government is ensuring that local communities will get the chance to have their say on the Moonlight Range Wind Farm, and any other new wind farm developments.
The development approval for the Moonlight Range Wind Farm, 40km north west of Rockhampton, has been issued with a proposed ‘call in’ notice that allows submissions to be made from community members, local governments and other stakeholders as to whether the proposal meets State interests.
The consultation period is 40 business days and will close on 14 March 2025.
Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie, said that Queenslanders backed the State Government’s election commitment to provide both local communities and councils a say in new renewable energy developments in their backyard.
“It’s only fair that the regions that play host to these large-scale new developments are consulted as part of any approval process,” Minister Bleijie said.
“All projects, whether they are renewable energy, agriculture or mining should be subject to the same rigorous approvals process which includes community consultation and we will amend the assessment process to deliver this certainty to Queenslanders.
“The Queensland Government is open for business and the introduction of an impact assessment framework for renewable energy projects and approval processes consistent with other land uses will provide certainty for the community and industry.”
Three other applications for wind farms currently under assessment in North Queensland, Central Queensland and South West Queensland have also been paused to allow proponents to demonstrate that the appropriate community consultation and impact assessments has been undertaken.
