Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor says he will continue pushing for a full solution to Taralga’s TV reception problems.

“It’s welcome news that Taralga Wind Farm has acted on complaints received since wind turbines were activated late last year, interfering with TV reception. But I’ll keep reminding the operators of their obligations,” Mr Taylor said.

He said investigating installation of a re-transmission tower was the next step towards a long term solution to the issue.

“The calls and emails from Taralga residents started coming in to my office in December. My staff initiated contact with Taralga Wind Farm and insisted on an open dialogue to resolve the interference issues.”

Mr Taylor said a 2006 court determination stated that the wind farm operators “must undertake any reasonable and feasible mitigation measures to rectify any television transmission problems reasonably attributable to the development.”

“I am pleased to hear this week that Taralga Wind Farm has installed approximately 110 VAST (Viewer Access Satellite Television) systems, after receiving 135 requests. The company says a number of installations have been delayed because home owners have not been available and it will now embark on a second phase of installing and paying for VAST systems for subsequent TV sets in homes experiencing issues.”

Taralga resident Terry Bennett said there had been mixed messages from the wind farm. “We heard that ongoing costs of the VAST systems would still be up to individual residents. I mean, that’s not fair. We had brilliant TV reception; we had no problems at all. We were told we would only get one VAST system per house, even if we had multiple TVs. Now we’re hearing something different. I was stoked with the fact that Angus was the only one who was doing anything about it,” he said.

Mr Taylor warned residents to avoid signing agreements that might waive away future rights that the developer has a duty to provide.

“This needs to play out to its full extent and I will be looking for a full, not a half-baked solution.”

Caption: Angus Taylor with Taralga resident Terry Bennett who wants Taralga Wind Farm to pay for a permanent solution to his TV reception problems, since turbines started interfering with the signal.