Most of the landholders on Hogans Lane in Deniliquin are crossing their fingers that a determination on a proposed Deniliquin solar farm in their street goes their way next week.
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The Hogans Lane residents have been fighting the development for a number of months, and the final public determination meeting has been set down for Tuesday.
The development has not been supported by Edward River Council as it goes against sections of its Local Environment Plan, but as a state significant development council’s refusal can be overruled.
State significant developments are projects over a certain monetary value, with this ‘Deniliquin Micro Solar Farm’ proposed by Green Gold Energy valued at more than $5 million.
Hogans Lane landholder Nicole Rogers said the solar farm will be built about 50m from her back door.
She is vehemently opposed to it being built so close to her own home, and that of her neighbours.
As well as concerns about impacts during construction, she says it will be an eyesore that will ruin their idyllic country setting and devalue their homes.
And the fire risks are also troubling for her.
“We are in a rural residential area, on 50 acre hobby farms.
“The solar farm proposed takes up 77 per cent of the 50 acre block it is proposed for.
“The initial application was for 12,500 panels. That has since been brought down to 10,000 but, still, who wants to see that?
“It is being built so close to the boundary of my home and construction is likely going to take nine months - or longer given the weather can make our dirt road inaccessible at times.
“The construction will be bad enough, and then we have the visual impact.
“They say they will put in tube stock trees to help with that, but the varieties they have chosen have a 15 to 20 year maturity rate.
“The reports say this will power about 1000 homes, but this is the rest of my life.”
Mrs Rogers said she is about four years away from retirement, and that the solar farm will significantly impact on the “peace and tranquillity” that attracted her to Hogans Lane in the first place.
“There is so much land, why does it need to be in the middle of where people live?
“I don’t want my property devalued by a solar farm next door.
“And then there is the safety element.
“We’re just 6km from Deniliquin and in a fire prone area, and there is only one way in and out of our street. Solar farms do sometimes go up (in flames).
“It has been so stressful, and we are starting to wonder if we are fighting a losing battle.
“The final determination on this project is next week, but there’s already people doing soil testing and preparing for construction.”
Mrs Rogers and her neighbour Claire Oram have both taken aim at the consultation process surrounding the plan, both saying they have never been directly contacted by the proponents or consultants involved in the project.
“We haven’t had any consultation regarding the solar farm, and we believe there is no community benefit and it will only power fewer than 100 homes,” Mrs Oram said.
“Yet there will be desegregation of land and property devaluation.
“The solar farm will be 120m from our house, and about 50m from the nearest neighbour.
“Hogans Lane consists of 50 area blocks, farmlets, and is supposed to be a lifestyle area.”
Edward River Council refused to support the development application for the solar farm, based on section 4.15 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
Council says referring to this section, the proposed development is “not consistent with the aims and objectives of the Deniliquin Local Environmental Plan 2013 and objectives of the Deniliquin Development Control Plan 2016, as it will not satisfactorily minimise land use conflict or protect the amenity of surrounding residential development”.
It also said it could not approve the development because of noise and visual impacts, and because it would result in “unacceptable environmental impacts for surrounding residential properties” as it was an “inappropriate site selection in relatively closely settled area”.
The Rogers and Oram families are both expected to speak at Tuesday’s meeting, which will be held via teleconference.
The meeting has not been advertised in local papers.
Registrations to speak at or to listen to this meeting must be lodged with the Planning Panels Secretariat by 4pm today, by phoning (02) 8217 2060 or sending an email to enquiry@planningpanels.nsw.gov.au.
Relevant documents are available on the Planning Panels website - www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/planningpanels.
Senior journalist