General News
1 July, 2026
Mumblin wind farm receives green light
RESIDENTS have been left reeling after Mumblin Wind Farm was granted approval from the state government last week.
The Department of Transport and Planning announced last week it had signed off on developer RE Future’s plans for an eight-turbine wind farm with a maximum blade tip height of 252 metres above natural ground level.
The wind farm will be located on Curdies-Leichfield Road in Elingamite North, just outside Cobden, and is proposed to generate 190,000MWh annually – enough to power 35,000 homes.
The decision comes after years of fierce opposition from residents, Corangamite Shire Council and Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan.
Corangamite Shire Council mayor councillor Kate Makin said council was left “bitterly disappointed and frustrated” about the decision to approve the wind farm.
“It just goes against everything we’ve been putting out there to say it could have implications on agricultural land, the aviation industry, emergency services and the whole community – it just hasn’t looked at what needs to be done and where this place should be spotted,” she said.
“It’s only eight wind turbines – it’s not a big one, but it’s just frustrating that the minister hasn’t listened to not only us, but the whole community about this wind farm in particular and it not being in the right position.
“My biggest concerns about the airfield is they can’t fly the way they’re supposed to.
“They can fly, but they won’t be there to fight out fires if there happens to be one at the Mumblin Wind Farm site because air bombers won’t fly near wind turbines.
“The Country Fire Authority (CFA) have got to fight them, so they’ve got to have the capabilities to fight them – whether they do or not is another question.”
Cr Makin said she has concerns after discovering the aviation industry and the Cobden Aerodrome had not been consulted properly during the process.
“My fears are the government has a plan and they’re sticking to it, and they’re not listening to anything that the local community is saying,” she said.
“We put in multiple submissions – as did the local community – about what these wind turbines would do for the community as a whole.
“I feel those concerns have not been listened to at all by the planning minister.”
Among the residents who are ropeable with the decision was Elingamite North’s Linda Morgan, a member of the Stop Mumblin Wind Farm group which has engaged the services of DST Legal in a bid to prevent the construction of the wind farm.
Mrs Morgan said she could not believe the project had been rushed through so flippantly.
“We’re disappointed and cannot believe a permit has been approved despite all the application conditions still not being completed – such as addressing noise complaints,” she said.
“If the decision is not reversed, we will be looking to sue the host, the Victorian Government and the investors – anyone who is going to be part of causing this loss and damage.
“This is something we’re willing to drag through the courts.”
Mrs Morgan said the nearest wind turbine to her property boundary would be around a quarter of a kilometre, which would impact her ability to erect any buildings in the vicinity.
“We were looking at the potential for building worker accommodation on our property but we just can’t do that if this permit is approved,” she said.
“The whole process has been unfair.
“I would not be able to push through a project without completing the permit conditions but the minister had no issue approving the wind farm before they had completed the process.”
Mrs Morgan said she believed reasonable objections fell on deaf ears, and expressed disappointment there was not further opposition to the project due to its location in an area which bushfire has previously impacted.
“We’re extremely disappointed the Country Fire Authority and Landcare Victoria did not file objections,” Mrs Morgan said.
“The location is right where the St Patrick’s Day Bushfires tore through.
“It’s disgusting – there were some really good objections but they’ve all just been ignored.”
Mrs Morgan said the fact the proposed Mumblin Wind Farm is relatively smaller in scale only made the approval more of a headscratcher.
“It’s only eight turbines which will be creating so much damage,” she said.
“It isn’t a large-scale wind farm in the scheme of things – why create so much damage for such little output?”
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