Cobbora Solar Farm

I object to this project as this land is rural land not industrial land. The run off in heavy rain will cause more flooding a long Sandy Creek then in to the Talbragar River. Transport of infrastructure and workers a long the all ready over loaded Golden Highway will cause accidents. Dunedoo area has all ready lost our tradies and farm workers to the CWO REZ because they pay higher wages.
I THINK IT IS TIME RENEWABLE ENERGY BE GENERATED WHERE IT IS NEEDED !! A lot of rural farms/ houses are going off grid so no point generating power here , we have been off grid for over two years, best thing we have done. So in my life time we are back to generating power again

We need more power stations not solar farms.

I object to any 'renewables' that are on prime agricultural farming land. This area provides food and fibre for our whole nation. Most of the power generated will be going to a select few areas on the coast. Money is going to non-Australian enterprises. This is an area of mostly family run farming enterprises not impersonal multi-national and foreign owned corporations. It is incredible, and extremely sad, to already witness the destruction of many old gum trees, areas flattened and waterways being affected in other locations within the Central West REZ. The costs blow outs already are staggering and it is us, the Australian taxpayers, paying.
If you have to put it anywhere, put it near where it is going to be consumed- on the coast....not on our food bowl.

I strongly object to this project.
Agricultural land should not be used for renewable energy projects. Agricultural land should be used for the production of food and fibre.
The cumulative impacts of all of the renewable energy projects in the CWO REZ have been vastly underestimated. This particular area of the CWO REZ is going to the heavily affected if all the planned projects proceed.

Please see attached

To whom it may concern
I am writing to you on the hope that you can stop the trainwreck that is coming in the form of renewables.
They are not renewable they are intermittent energy.
Great agricultural land is being destroyed by solar panels, and the land will not be recoverable when the Solar panels cease to operate in less than 25 years. The solar panels cannot be properly recycled, no matter what you hear.
The wind turbines are destroying our environment and killing our birdlife, and they cannot be recycled. It will be a environmental disaster in less than 25 years.
What make this all worse is that electricity will be unaffordable. I have been monitoring the AEMO Fuel mix site which details the source of energy. Coal and Gas still supply between 60% and 80% of electricity in times of demand. Solar does not work from 5.30 pm to 6.30 am and wind is unknown. There will never be affordable storage to cover the fluctuations on wind and solar.
When you add back the cost of the transmission grid to move intermittent electricity across the size of the eastern seaboard to meet the requirements of 27 million people, the rich already with subsidised solar and batteries there is absolutely no way electricity will be affordable for Australians. Electricity prices are already unaffordable, and they will be skyrocketing. Small business in being decimated.
This is common sense, and you need to stop this ridiculous project from progressing. We need no more Solar power because we already have excess Solar power at the wrong times of the day. Please also understand that batteries are expensive, have limited storage and are toxic with a limited life. There are millions, maybe billions of dollars of taxpayer money being wasted on what will be the biggest scam in Australia’s history. There is already and enquiry underway where the Chairman recommends a hold on renewables. Our farmers are being lied to be the Contractors and great NSW farmland will be left decimated.
Your sincerely

Michael French

Wellington Valley Wiradjuri Aboriginal Corporation (WVWAC) Elders, Knowledge Holder and Members Object to this project. The Project lapsed and was readvertised where multiple new Registered Aboriginal Parties were added compared to the core groups from the initial assessments for the project. WVWAC strongly insisted if new groups added the project required resurvey, this was dismissed by the Archaeologists and the Proponent who are relying on the original survey work and reports. How can new the project be properly assessed by those involved if they have not walked the landscape and just read it from a report.

ALL RAP's should be engaged as a single group to conduct a new field assessment all together (not split up or rostered on in different days) to ensure all are present and informed and a new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Report is submitted prior to any approval being granted, not rely on a report from the first iteration of the project as the property owners in the project area have ploughed, planted multiple crops and run sheep and cattle over sites that were located and there has been significant rainfall since the 2022 survey, all of which may have impacted sites previously identified and or exposed new sites where significant density of cultural materials may have been uncovered.

WVWAC have significant concerns around the Intergenerational Cumulative Loss to our Aboriginal Heritage through numerous renewable projects and the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (CWO REZ). This project location has numerous significant sites and was part of the proposed Cobbora Coal Mine that was not approved for numerous reasons.

The project is located on good arable land which is also very well suited to grazing. This project would go against the Paris Climate Agreement where good farming and grazing lands cannon be used for projects such as this. A lot of the project will be seen from the highway and other minor roads in the area and this project will significantly interfere with the Cultural Songlines that flow through it and around it.

Again we seek that this project NOT be granted approval for the brief reasons given above.

Solar farms are an isore and complete waste of money and resources this is not the future for this country

More solar less coal will help tackle climate change which is already affecting Australia and its pacific neighbours negatively and will only get worse.

The Cobbora Solar Farm is part of the CWO-REZ. I object to both for the following reasons.

1. The rationale and design of the CWO-REZ is open to question. As designed it is essentially a spur line connecting the Elong and Merotherie Hubs and transmitting all electricity produced to Wollar where it connects with the existing 500 kV power line from Bayswater to Mt Piper. As a spur line it is susceptable to complete disconnection from the main grid due to storms etc. It is also approximately one third the length of this Bayswater to Mt Piper line. Why not connect renewable energy projects directly to this existing Bayswater-Mt Piper power line, utilise reclaimed mining land and buffer zones in the area and so minimise cumulative and environmental impacts? And also save $5.5 billion!

2. When the AMEO assessed the suitability of the CWO-REZ for renewable energy projects it determined that this zone has a bushfire rating of E. This is the worst possible rating on scale from A to E. All electrical infrastructure including renewable energy projects and associated power lines can start fires. The decision to ignore this threat is even more alarming given that the projections of climate change with more extreme weather events will make bushfires much more commonplace.

3. Renewable energy projects will eventually have to be decommissioned and the site rehabilitated. If this responsibility is avoided by a successiion of owners of these projects, the responsibility then falls to the host landholder, who is unlikely to have the funds to complete this task. Until the goverment introduces a bond system to avoid this problem no renewable energy project should be approved.

4. In developing an electricity grid highly dependent on solar energy the fluctuations in solar output both during the day and seasonally must be considered. A surplus of solar electricity in the middle of the day leads to zero or negative prices for electricity at this time. This problem can be solved by utilising batteries to store this surplus and transfer it to the evening and morning demand peaks.
However there is no feasable means of storing electricity on a seasonal basis to overcome the decline of one third in solar output that occurs at NSW latitudes during the winter monhs. The solution being adopted by the planning authorities is to increase the number of solar panels sufficient to overcome this deficit. The required increase will not be just one third in the number of solar panels but an increase of 50%. Ambitious and expensive but it could solve the problem. But it will also lead to a 50% overproduction of solar electricity for the remaining 9 months of the year. And just as surplus solar electricity leads to zero or negative prices in the middle of the day, this seasonal surplus will lead to zero or negative prices for these 9 months of the year. How can solar farms and collaterally wind farms be economically viable in this scenario?

The above four issues demontrate a total lack of planning and foresight in the rollout of renewable energy projects in the CWO-REZ. No project should be approved until there is some clarification on how these problems will be addressed.

This project will provide a scar on the environment.

We object to this project. See attached.

Stop wrecking our homes

Stop wrecking our environment

Stop wrecking our regional communities

This will only result in permanent environmental damage, excessive electricity costs for all consumers, energy insecurity and economic disaster as businesses fold or leave Australia because they can no longer afford to operate.

We fear the NSW Government is unable to ensure that developers adhere to consent conditions given the vast number of projects in the CWO REZ. There has been no cumulative impact study completed. This is not in the public interest. This project will result in magnified fire risk for the community.

This project will only benefit the developer. Undoubtedly they will flip this project for profit at first opportunity. The land will never be restored as likely the soil will be contaminated and the electrical cabling never removed. Previously approved projects in our community have proven that developers do not adhere to consent conditions, the NSW Government appears to be unwilling or unable to ensure consent conditions are met, and there appears to be no consequence to the project operator.

No cumulative impact study has been completed for the CWO region. One solar project has already demonstrated that heavy vehicle driver training is sub standard with 3 roll overs of solar panel loads within a 6 week period (two occured in the same week). The EPA and NSW Transport appear to have no procedure to clean up these contaminated crash sites.

The only road works we have seen to date on the Golden Highway is the NSW Government doing up intersections (that do not require work) purely for the purpose of allowing turbine and solar loads access to council roads. Meanwhile roads elsewhere are dangerous for the existing heavy vehicle transport loads to transport agricultural produce to port or processors and dangerous for general commuter traffic. We have all been caught on the Golden Highway when an accident blocks traffic in both directions for many hours.

Cumulative impact study??? Stop wrecking our homes and environment and causing energy insecurity which will lead to food insecurity.

This project will add to the unfolding, catastrophic destruction of the Central West Orana region.

There are far too many of these destructive projects being rolled out without any cumulative impact assessment and how the damaging effects will cascade between them to transform this region into an industrial wasteland.

Our power prices will continue to rise and our land values decline, our communities will be continually divided, fire risk will exponentially increase. And many other detrimental effects.

No good will come of this.

Contamination and Waste Management are issues that are being swept under the carpet. It’s time government stop putting renewable energy targets ahead of the nation’s public health and food security. I refer you to my attached submission:

Submission Against the Proposed Cobbora Solar Farm

I am writing to object to the proposed Cobbora Solar Farm development. While renewable energy projects are important, this particular proposal is not suitable for our region and raises several serious concerns.

Impact on the Local Community

The project will cover 3,000 hectares of land near the small township of Cobbora and close to Dunedoo. This is an enormous industrial development in a quiet rural setting. It would permanently change the character of the area, with residents forced to live beside thousands of panels, access roads, and transmission infrastructure instead of open rural country.

Limited Long-Term Jobs and Benefits

Large-scale solar farms provide very few ongoing jobs once the construction phase is complete. For a project of this size, the long-term employment opportunities are extremely limited. Taking up such a large area of land with minimal community benefit does not make sense for the people of Cobbora, Dunedoo, and surrounding districts.

Loss of Agricultural Value

Although the land is described as “mostly cleared grazing land,” it is still productive country that has supported farming families for generations. Converting this land into an industrial site reduces the region’s agricultural capacity and undermines the farming heritage of the area.

Visual and Environmental Impact

The proposed solar farm will dramatically change the landscape and views across this part of the Warrumbungle and Dubbo council areas. The sheer size of the development makes it impossible to blend into the environment. Once built, it will leave a permanent mark on the district that cannot be easily restored.

Conclusion

The Cobbora Solar Farm offers little long-term benefit for the community while permanently altering the landscape, reducing agricultural use, and affecting the character of the region. For these reasons, I strongly oppose the project and ask that it not be approved.

Given the scale, risks, uncertainties and irreversible impacts, then why has the proponent not committed to a guaranteed minimum generation and battery dispatch output over its first 5 years, backed by a bank guarantee or performance bond, with clawback provisions for under‑performance?