Cobbora Solar Farm

Disturbance to soil, geomorphology, erosion and compaction lasting for years
Construction will compact soils, reduce infiltration, alter drainage, cause erosion and degrade landform stability. The EIS does not provide rigorous geotechnical or erosion control plans under heavy rainfall or storms. this installation has insufficient soil/erosion safeguards.

Every core principle of Ecologically Sustainable Development is discarded by this project.
There is no intergenerational equity, no precautionary approach, no conservation of biodiversity, and no responsible valuation of environmental costs.

This project reflects a complete departure from responsible planning and is the antithesis of sustainable development.

what are the impacts on ground fauna, subterranean ecology and mycorrhizae.
Large-scale impervious surfaces and trenching will disrupt subterranean fauna e.g. earthworms, invertebrates, fungal networks, soil microbes. The EIS does not assess these non-charismatic but ecologically critical communities. This shows a real ignorance of subterranean ecology.

There is a huge risk to groundwater recharge and aquifer interactions.
While the site is claimed ,free from flooding and ecological constraints, this is in total contradiction to the local council & the NSW government current sending resident community meeting timetables for flood preparedness mapping in the month of October. Don't your government department talk to each other??
Groundwater recharge zones may be intercepted, and subsurface flow altered. The EIS fails to sufficiently examine aquifer interactions. Total inadequate hydrogeological modelling.

Inadequate monitoring, enforcement and accountability provisions are present.
Even if the EIS proposes mitigation, there is no binding, transparent, publicly monitored enforcement regime, audit triggers, or penalties. I object to the weak to existent accountability mechanisms.

Impact on property values, lifestyle, health and amenity of neighbours are not properly address unless they can by bought to make them go away
Nearby landowners will endure visual intrusion, noise, dust, fire risk fear, lighting, glare and economic uncertainty. The EIS undervalues social and amenity costs. I object that affected neighbours have disproportionately high burdens while gains are diffused.

Here is a huge lack of “fallback alternative” scenario or lower‑impact option
The EIS does not adequately consider smaller scale, distributed renewable alternatives, or less invasive siting options. Instead, it pushes :- all or nothing. I object to the project’s failure to present a credible lesser impact alternative. Such as small nuclear or thermoelectric.

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?

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:

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.

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.

We object to this project. See attached.

Please see attached

Solar farms should not be built on agricultural land by foreign owned companies. If solar is required then it should be located in desert areas or non agricultural land.

I SOLELY SUPPORT THE TRANSMISSION FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY IN NEW SOUTH WALES FOR THE FUTURE.

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.

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.

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

This project will provide a scar on the environment.