Investigations have begun on a proposed construction of a large-scale solar farm about 10 kilometres north of Uralla, on the Uralla council’s side of the Armidale - Uralla boundary, and not far from the Armidale airport.
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If built, the 1800 hectare site for the 1.5 million panel solar farm by the French renewables company Neoen would sit just to the south of Armidale airport.
The farm was christened the Saumarez Solar Farm by concerned locals who will hold a community information meeting at the Invergowrie Fire Shed at 7pm on Tuesday, September 25.
Resident and meeting organiser Don Hardman said it is not a meeting opposing renewables, but a meeting to voice concern about where this particular development could be located.
“The renewables debate was proven years ago,” Mr Hardman said.
“Today it’s a given that they are the way of the future in energy generation.
Uralla Mayor Michael Pearce said he heard about the proposed project from concerned residents, both from within and from outside his Local Government Area.
“All the comments I’ve received so far have been negative,” he said.
This region is very supporting and accepting of renewable projects and I am very strong supporter of it.
- Adam Marshall
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said he was unable to attend the Invergowrie meeting because Parliament was sitting, but said he was left scratching his head about it all and certainly willing to make comment.
“I’ve heard nothing from the company and I don’t know how to get in contact with them. They haven’t spoken to the local council, as far as I know, and this all seems to me to be very bizarre and unusual behaviour from a company seeking to get a social licence from the community to put their project here,” Mr Marshall said.
“When you look at the projects between Inverell and Glen Innes or projects around Uralla, those companies engaged with the local communities and the councils well before they put anything out in the public domain about what they were going to do.
“This company seems to have announced what they are going to build before speaking to a single resident, the local council or the local MP, and I know for a fact that that they haven’t even gone anywhere near approaching the NSW Department of planning, which is the very agency that they have to convince to give planning approval to their project.”
Representatives from Neoen recently visited residents in the area, provided them with maps and details of the farm and contact details for the project manager, Antoine Lajouanie.
When contacted by Fairfax Media Mr Lajouanie said he could not comment and provided an email address for media. As yet we have received no reply to our request for further information.
