For ship photographers at Fremantle, Western Australia, please be aware ship photography is under serious threat from yet another (the 3rd) private wind farm proposal to be built on all parts of the main North Mole entrance breakwater. This includes along both the inner and outer sections of North Mole and the Rous Head access road to the outer North Mole section.
We are very lucky that Fremantle Ports allows the North and South Moles to be open for public access and the moles are used by thousands of sightseers, tourists, fishermen and photographers every year. The wind farm was reported as expected to take about two years to build. This could see North Mole closed to public access for at least all this period.
On North Mole the towers if built will cast long shadows across both the entrance channel and the ships as they move in and out of port. In summer months when early morning photography is best from the South Mole or west end of Victoria Quay then all ship photos would be against a background of a forest of huge wind farm towers. You only have to look at some of the photos on Shipspotting to see how wind farms have infiltrated many other ports around the world and their effect on quality ship photography.
The Fremantle Ports are currently against the proposal but Fremantle Council and the WA State Government are in favour. The proponents are now about to start a very public campaign to encourage a swell of public support to make Fremantle Ports reconsider the matter with help from the Fremantle Council. It is going to include public event get togethers and community involvement to support the proposal, refer to their website:
www.fremantlewindfarm.com.au Whilst not denying that there are substantial environmental matters involved which are all part of the wind farm proposal issue, these are not intended for this forum. This is simply to make Fremantle photographers aware of the impending threat to ship photography here before it is too late.
Thanks for reading.