About 250 property holders were willing to brave a cold, damp night to travel to the small Invergowrie RFS Shed on Tuesday evening in search of more information about Neoen Australia’s proposed 1800 hectare, 1.5 million panel solar farm development.
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“If it starts to rain again, it’s going to get crowded in there,” jibed one local who was part of the “overflow” outside the shed, and a few people around him chuckled.
Three hours later, meeting organiser Don Hardman said he was very happy with the turnout.
It was just a shame that there was no-one from Neoen at the meeting to provide it with their information.
- Don Hardman
“What we’ve tried to do was reach out to the community and inform them, and I think we’ve been successful in that. We tried to put across a diverse range of issues that the community sees,” he said.
“Issues that are going to impact on them, and we’re calling for other people to come on board with other ideas.
Mayors from Armidale and Uralla councils attended, and several speakers addressed the meeting with each delivering information that progressed the argument against the project’s proposed location.
Local grazier John Peatfield told the meeting that the rich, Basalt soils in this area received an average annual rainfall of 850ml, and had a Dry Sheep Equivalent of (DSE) of 14-15.
“By comparison, Walget has a DSE of 0.75 and that’s where this [ project] should be. I have run 14 -15 DSE for years (except this one),” he said.
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Another speaker from Arding Landcare expressed concern for trees planted with taxpayer funding, someone else revealed the existence of a travelling stock route running through the proposed development, and Rob Taber from New England Solar told the meeting he thought the development was proposed for the wrong location.
A local land valuer told the meeting properties could take longer to sell because of the uncertainty and could shed more than 15 per cent of their value if the project continued.
There is an Act, and they've got to 'prove beyond reasonable doubt', so as to speak.
- Cr Michael Pearce
Uralla mayor Michael Pearce was pleased with the size of the meeting and said it demonstrated the determination shire residents had when it came to something they did not want.
“A state significant development is a very large hoop to jump through, and I think there are a number of issues that this company has to address. So just let’s wait and see,” he said.
In a letter to the meeting, managing director of Neoen Australia, Franck Woitiez, said the company always assessed the technical, economic, societal and environmental feasibility of a site before fully committing to the project.
“We are in very early stages and still considering the feasibility of the site. There are no concrete plans to build a facility yet,” his letter read.
“Please be assured that we will take the time to meet with everyone individually, or in small groups, once we have completed the assessment of the initial community feedback.”
