Turbines cast shadow over land values

By: PAUL SELLARS
The Weekly Times (Australia)
16 APR 2003

THE arrival of wind farms in South Gippsland threatens to seriously erode property values, according to real estate agents.

Three prominent agents have told The Weekly Times that existing wind turbines -- and the prospect of more to come -- have turned potential buyers off properties.

PBE Real Estate co-founding director John Evans said in 35 years working in South Gippsland, he had never seen a bigger threat to property values than wind farms. Mr Evans said rural lifestyle property values close to the coastline had doubled in the past year.

Now, he said, windfarms threatened to cut those values in half. “It's going to knock them back to buggery,'' Mr Evans said. “We have one of the best coastlines in the world, the purest sand in the world, and they are going to ruin the whole coast.''

The 12-turbine wind farm at Toora is currently the only such project in South Gippsland, but others, including an 80-turbine facility at Bald Hills, have been proposed. Wesfarmers Landmark Leongatha agent Glen Wright said wind farms were “definitely'' having an impact on values. “If they are near the property, buyers are staying away,'' Mr Wright said. “If I had to put a figure on it, I would say (a reduction of) 25 to 30 per cent on the going value.''

Pat Rice Hawkins Pty Ltd sales manager Bruce Falk said potential buyers were turned off by the prospect of wind turbines. Mr Falk said that, before joining Pat Rice Hawkins, he had major difficulties selling a property near the Toora wind farm. "I would have shown 50 or 60 people through that property and I would say half of those wouldn't even look at the place once they realise it's in the vicinity of wind turbines," Mr Falk said. "And half of the other 50 per cent were concerned about resale so they offered 20 per cent less than the price the owners would accept."

Mr Falk also said potential buyers of other properties were equally as concerned about new wind farms being built. "People asked the question: `Will there be a wind farm?' and I couldn't definitively say no,"Mr Falk said.

The agents' claims were rejected by the Australian Wind Energy Association. Chief executive officer Libby Anthony said other agents had been able to attract buyers to the same Toora property referred to by Mr Falk. Ms Anthony said buyers might be anxious before turbines were erected, because they were unsure of how they would look. But, she said, all that changed once the wind farms were up and people could see them.

Ms Anthony also said the only available evidence of the impact of wind farms on land values -- in Albany, in Western Australia - showed values actually increased. However, Prom Coast Guardians spokesman Tim Le Roy said a study in Denmark vividly demonstrated wind turbines had a negative impact on property values.

 

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