The NSW government's move to reduce the size of a proposed wind farm an hour's drive from Canberra will short-change the community, according to residents.
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The group from Rye Park near Boorowa hopes to plead their case at a Planning Assessment Commission public forum on Thursday.
They hope the authority will chose not to make changes on grounds of visual impact and "maintaining the character of the rural village" as it is expected cutting 25 turbines would reduce the project's community enhancement fund by $62,500 each year and mean farmers would miss out on $375,000 a year.
Linda and Paul Cavanagh are due to host five turbines on their property.
The pair has farmed for 25 years and hope installing the renewable infrastructure on the land will assist the community and generate a drought-proof income to support themselves and their four children.
Ms Cavanagh said the developer reduced its initial proposal of 126 turbines to 109 when the plans were resubmitted in 2016.
A NSW Planning and Environment recommendation to further reduce the scope did little but hamper wider community benefit as each of the turbines under consideration for removal was further than requisite 3km from the centre of Rye Park Village.
"I don't think the wind turbines will compromise the visual appeal of the village," Ms Cavanagh said.
"Every five turbines will employ one full time person. It means the school can stay open. We could get shops out there, a fuel bowser out there. A functioning regional economy is far more attractive than a village with empty shopfronts and a closed school."
A NSW Department of Planning and Environment report stated the elevated position of the turbines along the nearby ridge line, and the extensive horizontal views of turbines from the village, would result in an unacceptable visual impact on the village.
It determined the removal of 25 turbines would achieve a "balance between maximising the use of the site's wind resources and minimising the potential impacts on the local community and environment" but stated even after a downsize the wind farm would generate approximately 815,000 megawatt hours a year, enough power for 102,000 homes.
"The PAC is an independent body, and will need to form its own view on the merits of the project, taking into consideration the matters raised into tomorrow's public meeting on the project," a department spokesperson said.
Matthew Smith has lived in Rye Park for 20 years and works part-time at the local school. He won't profit directly from the project but said he would be able to see a dozen or more of the 157m tall turbines from the eastern side of his home.
Mr Smith said visual amenity was always subjective but felt it was "a shallow argument to take potential income off people that way well be struggling".
"If it is reduced some people will miss out on hosting, the community will miss out of a quarter of the community enhancement fund, the state will miss out on generation potential and the nation as well as we are all connected on the grid," he said.
Charlie Prell from the Australian Wind Alliance said NSW planning authorities were being "heavy-handed" in their assessment of the visual impact of the wind farm.
"They are saying turbines that are 3.2km at least away from the village, not even on the next ridge line but two or three back are going to have a significant impact," he said.
"I am quite concerned the department are overstepping their authority. They are getting to the point where they approving something that is really marginally viable. The market for renewable energy is very competitive. I'd hate to see something approved that never gets built."
