What you've got to say about the Illawarra offshore wind zone

The zone will be smaller than the draft zone - covering 1022 square kilometres, instead of the 1461 square kilometres of the draft zone - and will be located 20 kilometres offshore.

It will be years before any wind turbines are off our coast, but the announcement on the Illawarra Mercury website has prompted hundreds of comments from local residents.

A poll run by the Mercury shows that 54 per cent of readers think the wind zone is a bad idea. Of the readers who filled out the poll 36 per cent were in favour and 10 per cent said they needed to know more.

We've selected a range of our readers' reactions below. Note we have provided an even number of positive and negative comments.

If you want to take part in the conversation, you can comment on the story below. Note you must be a subscriber or register with us for free in order to comment on articles.

Personally I can't stand the sight of wind turbines, not sure if my idea would work but would it cost any more to put solar panels on every residence in Australia with batteries? Then have gas powered power stations when needed as they can be fired up instantly.

Michael Harding

If the proposals from prospective developers aren't even in yet and they're told in advance they have to meet the highest environmental standards, employ 1740 locals and use local materials- what if they can't make a profit with those conditions? Either nobody will tender or else the price will be so high that taxpayers will have to subsidise it for ever like Snowy 2.0. Give me a break!!! What's wrong with our local coal? (Just saying)

Diana Melleuish

The soul of the Illawarra is in its pristine coastline. This is just ugly and over time reduces the attractiveness of visiting and living in the area for the 300,000 residents of the Illawarra. These are not wanted anywhere they are visible, note the farmers opposition to the land wind turbines and the Illawarra and Hunter region declared zones will affect far more people than any region so far proposed.

It is only because they are completely safe Labor seats that these areas were chosen . Also economically they are the most expensive renewable option, 2-3x more expensive than wind turbines on land (see recent CSIRO/AEMO release, make sure you note these will be floating not fixed if you want to dispute this).

Alex Petersen

Undoubtedly this is risky business. The cost? The reliability? Lifespan? Environmental concerns? A couple of nuclear installations would probably do the job?

Kevin Davis

As a coal miner I felt some what guilty about my carbon footprint ... until the Greens thought it was a good idea to industrialise the ocean ... welcome to the dark side Chris Bowen.

Glenn Rodgerson

Destroying the environment to save the environment. Beyond silly.

Timmy Drums

Good for the Gong. Done right, with comprehensive environmental assessment, co design with First Nations people, local content and employment quotas, and community benefit, offshore wind will help with desperately needed decarbonisation.

Keith Horton

The distance to the horizon from Sublime Point is 20km and from Mt Keira lookout its 22km. Just saying.

Inspired Solutions

Considering the horizon is around 5 kilometres out to sea and these will be apparently 20k or so, I think it'll be interesting.

Alan Bond

This is a great step towards cleaner energy in Wollongong. The next step will be feasibility license applications to undertake site studies over the next 7 years.

Cathy Blakey

This is great news for the region, we have all the ingredients to be a renewable energy powerhouse in the Illawarra and offshore wind farms are so well suited to be located here - great work to all those advocating for this.

Ken Whitton

The Illawarra helped build a nation with the establishment of Australia's biggest steel mill early last century.

Now we can contribute to saving the planet with renewable energy.

Moving the turbines out 20km and taking action to protect the ocean environment step by step is the best way forward.

Chris Christodoulou