Quorn Park Solar Farm

I object on the grounds of the following:
- visual impact to my property
- its on prime farmland
-reduced land values
-heat signature from the solar farm
-my public liability insurance will not cover incidents affecting the solar farm
- I will have inland rail on one side and solar on the other affecting my block
-vehicle movements during construction

Please see attached

Good Morning
I am raising some objections to the proposed Solar Farm development called Quorn Park.
1. This development is on prime agricultural land. It has been farmed and run livestock successfully for many generations.
2. Several farms in the same area have been developed as solar farms. the present substation is at capacity. This development would entail some sort of battery storage which is an environmental hazard.
3. The development would have a visual impact on my property. From what I have read in the development application no remedial work to overcome this is planned.
4. The land value of my property, being prime agricultural land, will be reduced. My property is part of a larger one which has been farmed from original settlement.
5. At present we hold a public liability policy for 20 million dollars which is deemed appropriate for the size and location of the property at 762 Condobolin Rd.
With a development worth a number of million pounds almost adjacent to the property the insurer may be unwilling to take the risk and may not be able to offer any public liability insurance for farming operations on the property at all.
6. The property at 762 Condobolin Rd is adjacent to the Parkes Activation Hub. It would be considered ideal for the production of crops and livestock for processing at facilities at the Activation Hub.
A proper environmental assessment needs to be undertaken by the NSW Planning Office before any further consideration of this development.
Barbara Weaver

This project will have a significant visual impact on the western side of Parkes and should be located further from the town. As an example the houses on Corcoran road will look directly to the solar farm. While i support renewable energy projects the location is too close to the town of Parkes.

Our Property Currently overlooks the proposed solar farm location. I am concerned that the solar farm will negatively impact the valuation of my property, destroy my current views of prime agricultural land, and provide significant glare.

Please find attached advice as requested.

Crown Lands has reviewed the proposal in accordance with the principles of Crown land management (s.1.4 Crown Land Management Act 2016) and offers no objections to the proposed development. It is noted in Section 9.3 of the Environmental Impact Statement that consultation will be ongoing with the Central West Local Land Services regarding any potential disruption to the use of the Crown land Travelling Stock Reserve adjacent to McGraths Lane.
In addition Section 2.1.2.5 of the EIS states that a grid connection to 132kV power lines is to occur to the south west of the development. Figures indicate that this does not intersect the subject TSR. Should the development be modified in any manner that impacts Crown land, the department requests an opportunity to further review the application prior to determination.
Should you require any further information, please contact Kay Oxley at the Orange Crown Lands office by phone on (02) 63914334 or email [email protected].

Division of Resources & Geoscience advice attached.

The Department of Primary Industries has reviewed the proposal and advises that all underground cabling be removed on decommissioning rather than just to 800mm. The agricultural value of the land warrants its return to full production potential. For more information please contact Mary Kovac on (02) 6881 1250.

We object to the project as the proposed farm will change the rural outlook of the area.
This rural outlook is the main reason we purchased the property.
I believe the project will detrimentally affect the value of our property.
Strongly object to the project.
We have only recently been made aware of this project which will affect us, we feel that this was a deliberate attempt to prevent/reduce objections

I strongly object to the project as it will negatively affect our rural outlook, which is the reason we purchased this property in the first place.
Furthermore, this project will negatively impact on the resale value of our property.
The land proposed is prime agricultural land.

The solar farm will impact on the outlook from my residence as I will have a clear view of it from my front verandah.
I am also against it as an owner of nearby land as I understand land values in the vicinity of other solar developments have been affected detrimentally. The land is also high quality agricultural land and shouldn’t be wasted by being placed under solar panels just because it is close enough to connect to the power grid.
The development is also the third of its kind in the same area as far as water runoff is concerned and I don’t believe nearly enough attention has been paid to the impact all of these solar panels will have, when normal season rainfall returns, to the rate at which the water will run in the local creeks. These creeks impact heavily enough at times of heavier rainfall on three of my most direct routes to the nearest town of Parkes, I believe this will be greatly increased by these solar farm developments.
There are also the increased vehicle movements during construction. A large number of heavy vehicles will have to be used to transport in the required resources, this will have to occur on a school bus route that my children travel on a daily basis.
For these reasons I wish to object to the construction of this development.

Hi May,
Please find attached BCD's comments on the EIS.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Regards,
Renee.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to object to the development of the Quorn Park solar farm.

I am opposed to this development for the following reasons-

I understand land values in the vicinity of other solar developments have been affected detrimentally. As a landholder this could significantly affect the value of my property.

The land that the project is proposed to be built on is high quality agricultural land and shouldn’t be wasted by being placed under solar panels just because it is close enough to connect to the power grid. It is unknown what long term effects this or similar projects will have on the land that they are built on, and it is quite possible this land may never be suitable for agriculture again.

The development is the third of its kind in the same area as far as water runoff is concerned and I don’t believe nearly enough attention has been paid to the impact all of these solar panels will have, when normal season rainfall returns, to the rate at which the water will run in the local creeks. These creeks impact heavily enough at times of heavier rainfall on three of my most direct routes to the nearest town of Parkes, I believe this will be greatly increased by these solar farm developments.

There are also the increased vehicle movements during construction. A large number of heavy vehicles will have to be used to transport in the required resources, this will have to occur on a school bus route that my children travel on a daily basis.

I have concerns in relation to the level of my current public liability insurance. Currently our business has a policy to the value of $20,000,000. I have reason to believe that this would be inadequate if something was to happen on my property (a fire being started for instance) that caused some or all of the proposed development to be destroyed. Obviously this would mean I would be required to take out a suitable level of cover to allow for such a scenario and this would increase my insurance premiums.

Yours Faithfully

Grant H Orr

Firstly the development will have a substantial impact on the rural outlook I have from my home at this time making it far more industrial. The proposed fencing, lighting and of course massive area of solar panels will be very clearly visible day and night from my house.
I am also greatly opposed to what is excellent agricultural land being utilized in this manner, I feel it is a terrible waste of land that is highly productive to lock it up under solar panels just because of its proximity to the power grid. I also feel that with approximately 1000 acres of property in the vicinity already under solar panels or under construction our shire has sacrificed more than enough good agricultural land to what I feel is a very short sighted and unnecessary development.
The developers have no economic reason to control noxious weeds and pests and as a result I don't believe they will adequately or perhaps even bother to control them at all which could impact on my business substantially.
I understand that solar farm developments can impact on land values in the surrounding areas causing them to fall which could impact on my business.
The impact on surface water runoff I feel will be significant, the nature of the panels will see the water that would have landed on the ground under the panels run onto a much more concentrated area and get it flowing much easier. There is already a large area of solar panels either in place or under construction in basically the same valley which will all run into the Ridgey Creek and on into the Billabong Creek, the flow in these creeks, I feel, will be greatly increased and increase flooding and problems downstream of this development. If this is to occur underground water levels may also be impacted as water that once soaked in will be more inclined to run off into creeks and away.
Another issue that has been raised is that the average farm insurance policy covers approximately $10 million for public liability however the value of this development, I believe is in the vicinity of $160 million which could substantially raise insurance premiums for surrounding farmers with no direct benefit to any of us.
The increased traffic during the construction phase of the project will have an impact on local roads and be an increased danger to school children on the local bus routes.
Once the project is complete it will employ a very small staff for ongoing operations, more than likely, no more than the agriculture that it has replaced already employs in the local area and so will be of no real gain for the shire in economic terms.
For these reasons I feel this development would be far better suited to low quality land in another area altogether.

attached is a letter from myself on behalf of my family about the quorn park solar farm which our family is the CLOSEST neighbour.
please take the time to consider my family when making your decisions.

The solar plant will be across the road from our newly built house, we built in that location for the view and the surrounding country.

I live on back trundle rd. I object on the grounds of rural views, glare, my public liability would no cover a fire that spread onto the solar farm.

I would like to note my objection to the planned Quorn Park Solar Farm (Application SSD-9097)

Some of our country is directly joining the proposal that will clearly be negatively impacted by the proposal. A large amount of other country including lifestyle blocks overlook this development costing many locals including ourselves the right to look over the natural landscape as one would expect. This will negatively impact the value of country in the area. The area is also prime farming land that should be left its current food producing state. Locking this area up is preventing farming families and the next generation access to this lifestyle and income stream. I have concerns to the environmental impact on the local area – flora and fauna, and to the visual change to the rural landscape.

Parkes is fortunate enough to have many new and existing developments. This includes North Parkes Mines, large Inland Railway developments, proposed Special Operation Precinct and 2 x existing Solar Power Farms. All of this is good for our district but is locking up permanently locking up more and more traditional high quality farming country in particular close to town.

The 1st existing and the 2nd under development Solar farm are both well positioned to be visually non-obtrusive to the public with very few even being aware of existence. The same thing cannot be said for the proposed Quorn Park Solar farm.

Please note my objection.

Please refer to the attached letter.