Glenellen Solar Farm

Please find attached. Please read my comments. I am so deeply saddened by the lack of due diligence in this project, and the years that our children will have to live through to undo the damage caused to our land by these solar plants. This is too hasty, and without fair process.

I am in absolute objection to the Solar Farm Project. This project is being built on prime farming land. We object as farmers in the local area with an interest in keeping the land for farming as it has been over years. This will bring a lot of machinery into the area along roads not built for them. It will take up land that is meant for farming and once there will be near impossible to get rid of. I have seen pictures from other parts of the country and world of solar farms that have fallen into disrepair also. Please put this somewhere else in an industrial estate but not on our farm land.

Hi, my name is Anna Parrett and I would like to lodge an objection to the Glenellen solar farm proposal. I am currently studying to be nurse and am also working within a local nursing home that has residents with dementia. Current studies are proving that prolonged stress is one of the numerous causes of dementia. It is a debilitating disease that is very hard to treat and so awfully sad for those involved to see these people’s lives just waste away.
The GSF is far and above causing undue and projected to cause prolonged stress for the local residents for a long time. I am twenty years of age and love my rural lifestyle and panoramic setting and hope one day to bring my own children up the same way, this opportunity to raise my children in a tranquil, peaceful and beautiful environment will be taken away from me if this proposed industrial plant goes ahead.

I oppose this project going forward as it will ruin the fertile land it will be built on. I don't think that even sheep can graze the land. The roads are not built well enough to take the heavy machinery that use them. It all looks great when they're first built but they have a life span, I would like to know that if the project is approved is there any requirement to restore the land or will it end up looking like a scrap yard? I am not opposed to solar as an energy source but don't build it on prime farm land. I strongly oppose this project!

We wish to present our submission of objection to the Glenellen Solar Farm proposal outlining our concerns and reasoning for this development not to proceed.
This district is a continually highly productive agricultural area that should be ruined by being swamped with a mass of artificially internationally produced solar panels that will not only impact the production of cropping, livestock and pastures in the district but also the flora and fauna, also that land owners are at odds with each other, many who have been friends and neighbours for generations.
The removal of massive amounts of trees is a major concern for us, many of which are extremely aged. The plan to replace with screening trees will take many years to be of any value in regard to glare and heat. Weed control could also be an issue if not kept under control which in turn could become a fire hazard. Filling in dams and increased runoff due to rain and storm inundation could lead to major erosion issues, especially runoff from panels.
As for our local roads, in particular, Glenellen road, is one of the roughest and in many places narrowest with us many times having to drive right on the road verge or even gravel so that the semi’s and B-doubles that we meet can stay on the bitumen so that they don’t throw debris to damage our vehicles. This road would require massive $$ upgrades, that may be agreed to but never delivered in a timely fashion. The excessive traffic will be dangerous for the children travelling on school buses making frequent stops and many cyclists using Glenellen road, this has the potential for tragic circumstances in the future.
Glenellen is a beautiful area that would be ruined with many tens of thousands of panels and glare and an eyesore in the landscape that would inhibit and devalue local property. It seems that productive farming land is decreasing rapidly due to the loss of land to continued foreign investment that only seems to be choosing these areas on their infrastructure value and if these companies were genuinely into renewable energy they would construct them anywhere, not just where it works out to be the cheapest option for them.
We have lived here 27 years and we selected the position of our home for the lovely pristine outlook. We are disappointed to see that we are one of the receptors that has been identified to have high visual impact even after this vegetative screening, which will take substantial years to give us any visual relief.
It has always been reliable productive land of significant agricultural value and it would be an extreme waste of natural environment. We would be very disappointed to see this project go ahead.

Please find attached submission against the proposed Glenellen Solar Farm.

I object to the project. My reasons are attached.

After seeing the first one of these projects get approval it is disappointing that issues raised about glare, dust and animal welfare with these projects where not addressed and are not being made to address them.
Mining resources, sending them to China to be manufactured, burning coal to do so and then leaving a physical waste issue in 20 to 30 years is not really saving the environment , this exercise is only really helping a government meet a target and those neighbors and surrounding communities are collateral damage.
The engagement from these companies is disrespectful and insulting, long term farmers being told this is how it will be, so what is the point of consultation if they will do what they want and no one backs the locals who have paid taxes in this country their whole life.
It is agricultural land that these projects are being built on it, and the only claim to maintaining agricultural land is running sheep under them, yet no one can produce real photos, yield numbers, yet we heard recently of sheep
getting there wool caught in the mechanisms that turn the wheels, yet this is acceptable, but a normal farmer is cruel if he practices mulezing.
Once you destroy this land it doesn't just recover, once you have taken it away you remove parts of our food bowl. When will common sense prevail ??
Australia is vast with less productive land, if it is about the environment then stop ripping trees out and place this on land that does not grow them. The truth is it is all about money and meeting targets, one after another in a small farming land is just ridiculous, so many peoples lives affected with no real consideration for them

The Glenellen Solar Farm is an excellent venture that will provide numerous positive outcomes.
Clean energy from the sun.
Hundreds of jobs and employment.
Transition away from coal and emissions, which many nations are committed to.
Retaining of agricultural land and practices through 'Agrisolar' design, negating any heat island effect.
Sheep grazing and production continued on the land.
This is a great project and coincides both clean power generation and farming.
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I support the Glenellen Solar Farm.
This solar development has an excellent potential in so many ways.
Being of Agrisolar design , continuation of farming practices , grazing below panels.
Site location is excellent for grid feed in and minimal line loss, which makes this Renewable Energy project highly efficient.
Hundreds of jobs and employment opportunities will be created.
Local area economy will also benefit.
A fantastic opportunity to have clean free energy from the sun, and retain agricultural land production aswell.

DPIE Crown lands provides the following:
There is one Crown Road located within the proposal area that has an enclosure permit over the area and also an application over the road to close and purchase the road (our ref: W593607); which is not yet finalised. It is noted within the Environmental Impact Statement (now provided), that the applicant acknowledges the existence of a Crown road being located within the proposal area, and the requirement to formalise associated tenure arrangements.

It is noted that the applicant previously made an Application for a Licence over that Crown road for the purpose of power/transmission line (solar farm) on 10 October 2018 (Our Ref 18/07392). That application was unable to be assessed without the requested Environmental Impact Statement. Despite several requests the EIS was not provided and the applicant was formally advised of failure to progress that licence application on the 11 June 2020. Given the timeframe involved this licence has now been marked as not proceeding.

Should the applicant require works to commence prior to finalisation of the road purchase then the applicant should immediately make another Application for Licence over the Crown road – once granted the licence will authorise works. An application to close and purchase a road can take some time to process and further details of the Statutory Process timeframes may be found at https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/lands/access/roads/statutory-process-closing-purchasing-roads
Statutory process for closing and purchasing roads - Crown land in New South Wales - NSW Department of Industry
Statutory process for closing and purchasing roads. This table outlines the statutory process and estimated timeframes for Crown road purchase applications that the NSW Department of Industry approves for sale.
www.industry.nsw.gov.au

There is a small section of potential crown road identified in figure 8-24 of the EIS Document below. Further investigation by District Office has confirmed that this segment is public road (Council) and not Crown Road.

Should proposed site access change, for the proposal area to include any Crown Road or use the Crown Road for access; it is recommended that the Crown Road in question be transferred to Council, or application be made by the applicant to licence and to close and purchase the road.

It is also recommended that the proposal area does not interfere with or encroach on Crown Reserve that exists in close proximity to the most south eastern boundary of the proposal area.

Queltara Pty Ltd is a direct and most effected neighbour of the proposed site, due to having the biggest boundary with the site.

As a farming business strongly objects this proposed development and would be very disappointed if it went ahead and we had to farm next to it now and in the future. We are fourth generation farmers of this land and hope that our land is farmed by family for many years to come. It is very stressful that we do not fully know how much it will affect us in the future.

With heritage aplenty and legacy of striving for excellence while being on the forefront of agriculture with a mix of permanent and casual employees. We cannot get any accurate information about micro climate/heat island effects the installation will have on our agricultural enterprise from the proponent. Also with our land being downstream from the proposal and given the increased water shed rate of the panels we will no doubt be susceptible to increased flooding in wet years. These two environmental factors coupled with a unknown weed build up around the installation and Increased fire risk makes this installation very undesirable to have next to our farming operation, if the project was to proceed we feel it would vastly affect our practices and ability to produce a viable income.

The farmland this project is proposed to go on is some of the best in the state not to mention some of the best in Australia, for its reliability of rainfall and its clay loamy soil makes, we as business have been hosting an Variety Trial or better known as an NVT which was ran and funded in previous years by the NSW Agricultural and the DPI, now GRDC funded cåompares wheat and canola varieties against each other than ranks them against all other sites across the state, in which nearly every year Gerogery which is our trial is ranked in the top 5, in drier years its consistently in the top 2 . Noting this, in the DA the land for this project is ranked at a class 4 agricultural land, this land proposed would be as good and if not better than our holding. I really think this needs to be considered more and investigated before this development goes ahead.

Flood Hydrology Assessment. Being a custodian of the land and having worked this property for the last 19 years experienced all extreme weather events, the flood maps produced this H A R are a complete load of rubbish, and how can it be taken seriously, when I page 6 of the H A R it states that “No localised rainfall data, water levels or discharge data were identified at the site” for example.

Trina Solar being a Chinese owned company does not appeal to us one bit with the current trade ban on Australian commodities, such as coal, barley, copper ore, sugar, timber wine and lobster with wheat now looming also. So here we have as Chinese company that wants to lease Australian prime agricultural land to generate power to sell to us with it components now not likely to even be made using Australian resources.

Salinity is also of great concern in the development there is a considerable number of native trees earmarked for removal, with none of these and no deep rooted perennial pastures growing underneath these panels, I’m very concerned about a rising water table leading to salinity.

A project of this size and nature will no doubt cause a downturn in land prices in its immediate vicinity, nearby residents will be stuck with and unsightly view and most likely unable to sell their properties for what they should be worth. We cannot in any way see this proposed development being favourable for land prices for neighbouring properties, we are in no way looking to sell or subdivide but need our business to be in an equitable position falling land prices put pressure on this.

Visual Amenity Impact, this development will in no way be aesthetically pleasing. We do not live and work here to be in plain sight of a large scale industrial zone or power station. This part of the Greater Hume Shire has tranquil views with a rural/semi-rural lifestyle for most residents. The project is also on low lying ground with a lot of properties overlooking it, nobody needs to be looking at an extensive industrial area/zone in a rural setting. our family homestead is 167 Fielder Moll road Gerogery is no more than 2.7km, North East with an elevation of 41 meters above this proposed development it begs my belief in the EIS appendix F, page 25 visual amenity assessment that both these residents are classed as being lowly impacted, with the panel being north facing and being elevated 5 meters from ground the development will be quiet visible of structures and glare from this residence.

We would ask you to examine the points raised thoroughly as we believe if this project is approved it will have a long lasting negative effect on our local community, our family and our ability to farm sustainably.

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) - Water and the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) have reviewed the Glenellen Solar Farm EIS and have provided comments in the attached.