The 18 tonne wind farm blade which is to be installed in Veness Park is nearly ready to move from its yard beside the Inverell road in Glen Innes.
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The contractor, Jay Weir, is excited about the project. It was he who persuaded the managers of White Rock Wind Farm to relinquish the piece of machinery which is half the length of a rugby field.
“It involves a fair bit of engineering work”, he said. “It involves two cranes and a very large truck and trailer combination to get it down there.”
The blade was damaged and the wind farm wanted to discard it so it was destined for the dump had Mr Weir not intervened.
It now lies in the yard of his company, Weir Built, where concrete plinths are to be constructed to be set into holes in the ground in the park. One hole has already been dug.
When all that is done, a transport company, with huge purpose-built trailers, will lift and move. It will be a spectacular operation.
Time is tight because of the availability of the specialist moving machinery. If there were a delay, say, because proper legal procedures hadn’t been completed, there would be the question of cost and viability.
There is some opposition from local residents. Nola Taylor whose house overlooks the park feels the installed blade will spoil the view.
She has been questioning the council about whether it went through the right procedure to get permission to make such a change to the park.
Council General manager, Hein Basson, said: “Council is currently working through the necessary procedures associated with the placement of the blade.”
It is not clear if the paperwork will now delay the move which had been scheduled to happen within the next few weeks.
The blade will be horizontal. It was thought that a proposal to have it standing upright, perhaps on one of the roundabouts on the New England Highway, would have been too risky.
Even so, the council feels that the installation will be spectacular.
At its meeting in March, the report by officers said: “The development of the wind farms has created significant interest, generally because of the “wow factor” due to the size of the components and structures.”
The report said that $10,000 would be allocated for the installation and that would come from money for “public art.”
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