Plans to build windfarm on Australian WWI graves abandoned
Plans to build a wind farm on top of Australian World War One graves in France have been abandoned.
An energy company has pulled the proposal to develop the turbines on the site where thousands of Diggers were killed during the Battle of Bullecourt.
French utility company Engie has announced it will halt the development of the project in response to an Australian backlash.
"Respectful of the memory of Australian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice on French soil during the First World War, Engie has taken the decision to cancel this project," a spokesman for the French company told AAP.
The company said it was particularly sensitive to the emotion aroused in Australia and anxious to alleviate the fears of "all those who preserve and maintain the memory of the Australian soldiers who fell during the offensives of 1917".
"The recent reactions have highlighted the symbolic nature and sacredness of the site," the spokesman said, insisting the company had respected the history of the site from the outset.
Bullecourt was the scene of two of Australia's bloodiest battles on the Western Front one hundred years ago.
In April and May 1917 the Australian Imperial Force lost more than 10,000 men.
