Why the Illawarra Mercury's homepage has been taken over by our wind zone coverage

Over the last few weeks, the Illawarra Mercury has written almost 50 articles about the proposed zone, which extends from Wombarra to Kiama and could see wind turbines from 10km out from shore.

You will be used to reading the most recent news on our website, but from noon until 4pm today, the Illawarra Mercury's homepage will be taken over by our wind farm coverage.

You can, of course, continue to read our regular news updates in the latest news section or by going to our local news page.

We are taking this unusual step of curating our homepage on one subject so our readers can do their reading on the proposed zone before putting in their submissions.

We have also included many of those stories in the links below.

As a local news organisation, it is not our role to tell readers what to think about the wind zone. However, we must provide as much information as possible about how the community feels and how businesses and residents will be affected.

Our coverage has included sending our reporter Connor Pearce to Denmark so he could learn more about the wind farm industry. This trip was paid for by the Danish Embassy and enabled our newsroom to be informed to ask questions on behalf of the Illawarra community.

You can read his extensive question-and-answer pieces here and here.

This consultation is the first step in what could be a seven-year process if the zone is given the green light. There will be three other opportunities for the public to provide feedback if the area is declared, but it's essential if you have an opinion that you contribute to the process.

You can give your submission to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water by completing this survey.

But before you do, read our coverage and then make your own mind up.