Last week the PM expressed his dislike for wind farms like the White Rock wind turbine project, saying they are “visually awful”.

Recently the Glen Innes Examiner reported that the White Rock Wind farm would go ahead after the Coalition did a deal with Labor to reduce the 2020 Renewable Energy Target from 41,000 to 33,000 gigawatt hours of electricity.

Mr Abbott bemoaned the growth of the renewable energy sector and said the freshly inked bipartisan deal to slash the nation’s renewable energy target didn’t go far enough.

"I would frankly have liked to reduce the number a lot more but we got the best deal we could out of the Senate," he said

"Frankly it's right and proper we've reduced the Renewable Energy Target because as things stood there was going to be an explosion of these things right around our country.

“"Up close, they're ugly, they're noisy and they may have all sorts of other impacts.”

Federal Member for New England Barnaby Joyce said that the Prime Minister had a point.

"I hate to say it, but I agree, wind farms are one of those things that everybody likes as long as it's not in their backyard,” he said.

However local landowner John Wood is bewildered by both the PM and Mr Joyce’s comments and says that the wind farm will be amazing for the district.

“The White rock farm will be an astronomical investment in our community and I think the PM’s response is bizarre,” he said.

“As a land owner I did a fair bit of research into the health problems and there is no substantial evidence to prove there will be any and as for the ugliness of them, well they are a damn site better to look at than a great big hole in the ground from a coal mine.”

Mr Wood went on to say that further comments regarding livestock being upset by the turbines is also unfounded.

“There won’t be an issue with my animals being upset, I have had extensive chats with land owners that have wind turbines in the south of the state and they claim it is not an issue at all,” he said.

“I think both the PM and Mr Joyce’s comments are ill informed and they are overlooking the economic benefits of the industry and the fact that these will stop hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal being burnt is good for the environment.

“Don’t forget the state government get 8.2 percent royalty on coal, so every one of these wind farms causes a drop in coal royalty money, I think the developers are very brave because they are getting attacked from government from all angles which is unfair.”

Mr Wood added that the payments to land holders are not huge but they are a great additional income to the farm.

“This means the money will be spent on farming infrastructure, for us to employ extra staff, upgrade our machinery and all this money will be spent locally, so the benefits are wide spread and long term amongst the community.

Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler agreed with Mr Wood and said it was hard to believe Mr Abbott could find a less sophisticated argument against renewable energy than the one he has offered.

"This is more than a joke, Tony Abbott is actively campaigning against an industry that employs thousands of Australians, attracts billions in investment and reduces Australia's carbon pollution,” he said.

"No other world leader would show such recklessness towards one of their own industries."

White Rock Wind Farm is located about 20kms West of Glen Innes in the New England Tablelands. The project has a development approval for up to 119 wind turbines with 70 wind turbines now planned to be built in the first phase.

Preparations for construction of White Rock Wind Farm are planned to commence in late 2015 or early 2016.