Sundown Solar Farm

To whom it may concern.
I am writing in response to the proposed Sundown Solar panel installation in Swan Vale .
The impact of heavy traffic on the local and surrounding roads will block traffic for local and surrounding residents to access ammenities, including supplies, schools and hospitals.
The heavy traffic will also make it unsafe for farmers to move livestock between their paddocks , and constant heavy vehicle traffic will cause damage to roads.
There needs to be more research and community consultation before this project is approved.
Yours sicerely
Stephen Evans.

I am writing to express my concerns regarding the current submission for development of the Sundown Solar Farm project.
Until recently, and worryingly so, as a nearby property owner, I had received very limited information of the impacts to the Swanvale community or any public meetings that had been arranged for property owners to obtain this information.
I hold serious concerns for our community should the project commence in its current proposed state. The proposal put forward would see an unsustainable increase to local traffic on the Spring Mountain Road which carries a significant safety risk for local wildlife, local stock and most importantly local children. Six Swanvale students use the Spring Mountain Road intersection as the school bus stop. The heavy traffic (estimated by the report at up to 500 extra vehicles, including 26 metre long heavy vehicles), expected with such a development, carries several safety risks that do not appear to have been considered thoroughly, or even at all. There is risk of collision with a high volume of turning vehicles, and this becomes a danger not only to the children and the bus, but other road users. Similarly, low visibility due to the size of these vehicles will make it difficult for other motorists to see the children, and vice versa. Noise pollution from the increased traffic and compression breaking will also have negative impacts on the well-being of the children, as well as dust and exhaust fumes. These will be issues that will also affect the Swanvale community as a collective.
It is disturbing that an alternative, more direct route to the Sundown Solar Farm site had been researched, but that developers would rather quantify the risk to a child’s life, and our community, than accept an extra expense creating a direct route that has less impact on local wildlife, local livestock holders and ensures the safety of an upcoming generation.
Another disturbing revelation for the residents of Swanvale is the environmental impact of such a large development. It is questionable that the expected benefit of capturing solar energy actually sees a catastrophic devastation to the local landscape with the preparation of such a large site, including the large scale land clearing, the risk to water supply, the devastation to local wildlife, including the eight threatened species identified in the Biodiversity Assessment Report, as well as six matters of national environmental significance that are known to occur or potential to occur that will be impacted by this project. There is also an increased risk of bush fire, noise pollution and the likelihood of weather pattern changes from the solar array caused by the install of the panels. These are just the short term ramifications. Long term being the loss of agriculturally viable land in the area, including a decrease in biodiversity, damage to top soil and loss of self-sustaining land cover that will take decades to restore. There does not appear to be a readily available rehabilitation timeline for not only the landscape but the ecosystems that will be destroyed by this proposed development.
The residents of Swanvale have a deep and strong appreciation for the land we live on. We have seen bushfire, devastating droughts, unexpected flooding and we steadfastly remain in the community for the privelilge to live and work in an amazing environment. It would be a devasting outcome for this project to go ahead without further due diligence.

It is clear that the development will have numerous adverse effects on the existing residents in the area; particularly those who live on the road to or near the development itself. These effects include traffic and safety concerns, noise and vibration issues, financial losses, general hazard risks, and pollution and contamination risks. While it is necessary to transition to alternative sources of energy, such a transition must not debilitate residents in areas of proposed developments, such as is the case here.

Objection to Sundown Solar Farm SSD-8911

I object to the impacts of multiple renewable energy projects in Spring Mountain due to the loss of valuable agricultural land. As more land is converted into solar or wind farms, it will reduce the available arable land for farming and impact the local agricultural industry. Valuable farmland will be taken out of production, affecting the livelihoods of farmers and impacting local food production.

Regards
Lyle Mulligan

See attached

My objection is attached

See attached objection

I object to the proposed Sundown Solar project principally in relation to issues around road safety, massive increases in heavy vehicle traffic and associated impacts on watercourses.

The proposed development by Sundown Solar would see traffic increase on the otherwise extremely quiet rural Spring Mountain to 478 plus heavy vehicles per day. At present, there are less than 10 vehicles, mainly light vehicles that use this road.



To assert that watercourse crossings “will typically be implemented as either bed level or culvert crossings, with crossing upgrades proposed along the Sturmans Road and Spring Mountain Road crossings where there are existing bridges: • Kings Creek at western extension of Sturmans Road – low level bridge • Swan Brook at Spring Mountain Road – high level multi-cell box culvert system” is reckless in the extreme. Pg 192 Sundown Solar Farm Biodiversity Development Assessment Report.



The potential contamination to water that farm stock and downstream fishing anglers rely upon is unacceptable.

Regards
Lyn and Tony Guan

Director-Energy Assessments
Development Assessment Department of Planning and Environment
Locked Bag 5022 PARRAMATTA NSW 2124
Dear Director,
Objection to Application No. SSD-8911 by Sundown Solar Pty Ltd
I am writing to object to the proposed development of a 360MW solar farm, battery energy storage, and grid connection at Sturmans Road Spring Mountain by Sundown Solar Pty Ltd, application no. SSD-8911.
My objections are based on the potential impacts on health and safety, water quality, fire risk, and the use of public access roads.
Health and Safety: The proposed widening of Spring Mountain Road and Sturmans Road to accommodate heavy vehicle traffic poses significant risks to motorists, pedestrians, and livestock. The lack of a thorough risk assessment for this increased traffic volume on these access roads is unsatisfactory.
Water Impacts: The proximity to the Great Artesian Basin and underground aquifers necessitates a stringent water assessment to prevent accidental contamination and ensure the preservation of this critical resource.
Fire Risk:The fire risk analysis on relation to nearby agricultural properties is superficial and unsatisfactory.
Use of Public Access Roads: The chosen access route via Spring Mountain Road and Sturmans Road presents avoidable disruptions to local residents and their businesses. Alternative routes with more direct access to the proposes solar farm are available to minimise adverse effects. Moreover more direct access is critical to enable rural fire services to reach the solar farm quickly if an emergency arises
Based on these concerns, I respectfully request the rejection of application no. SSD-8911 in its current form and the implementation of robust assessment processes to protect the environment.
Thank you for your attention to these critical matters.
Yours sincerely,

Health Issues: There is an unknown longer term health impact on the life and livelihoods of neighbours bordering the project, who are adversely impacted The EIS has ignored the impact this Development has on the mental and well being of the Community, including growing numbers of vulnerable groups including the elderly. Impacts on Swanvale residents in this category who require regular health care, will need to compete with an influx of 400 construction workers. Elderly residents will need to navigate large volumes of construction workers, heavy vehicles and equipment on usually quiet roads. Reduced capacity to adapt to change is high for this age group.
Pressure on already stretched health services and limited access for locals to see health professionals when an additional 400 people are placed within a community.
Roads and Traffic Issues: The 478 vehicles per day along Spring Mtn Rd and Sturmans Rd does not meet Austroads design standards. The standard is a 7.2m wide seal for 150-500 daily traffic volumes. Inverell Council has agreed to a 8.7m unsealed road which meets the less than 50 vehicles per 4 day traffic volume. The Inverell ratepayers along Spring Mtn Rd will be impacted by this project, yet the Inverell Council has agreed not to comply with Austroads design standards.
The 100km posted default speed limit for non-built up areas in NSW will pose a safety risk for the Spring Mtn Rd residents, some elderly, who have no option to use this rd to access Gwydir Hwy to purchase food and farm supplies and access medical and other local services from Inverell or Glen Innes.

Please see attached letter

I lodge my objection on the grounds of public safety and the cumulative impacts on the community.

Developing a solar array with battery storage at the end of a no-through road, surrounded by farming land and rural properties in the shadow of multiple wind farms and other solar farms, puts the community living in the middle of all these projects and the surrounding communities of Inverell and Glen Innes at immense risk. Our community has first-hand experience of how quickly a fire can travel and the devastation that it causes.

Should an emergency arise through the 35 years of operation, emergency responders must travel extra time and distance to attend the site because the Sundown Solar would save money to widen the public roads of Spring Mountain Road and Sturmans Road rather than to develop the private road and intersection names as the 'alternative road' in the EIS. The 'alternative route' west of Spring Mountain Road is a formed road, is a direct route to the site and travels past no homes.

There is no oversight of the cumulative impacts of multiple projects currently proposed or have been approved in the Spring Mountain Region. This includes the White Rock Wind farm expansion, this solar farm development (Sundown Solar) and transmission lines running between the White Rock Wind Farm linking to Substation near the proposed solar farm and additional very large transmission lines connecting to the national grid mentioned in this EIS from Sundown Solar.
The cumulative effects on local businesses and residents and short and long-term impacts on the community have not been considered. (Study - Australia Institute and the University of Sydney's Renewable and Rural Australia, June 2022).

Regards
Phillipa and Paul Hiscox

I strongly object to the current proposed development of Sundown Solar for several reasons. Firstly, as a close family member of a resident who will be directly impacted by this project, I am deeply concerned about its potential consequences. I fear that the significant increase in traffic will have a severe negative impact on the farming operations and those of neighbouring farms to the point that these businesses and livelihoods may not be able to continue under these circumstances. This proposed development will make these surrounding farms untenable to operate, and this is not a good outcome for the community.

I firmly believe that a more reasonable solution would be the adoption of the alternative Western Access Road, which could mitigate the adverse effects on the surrounding farming businesses while providing a more direct route for heavy vehicles to reach the development site. The current proposal jeopardises the safety of landowners who use public roads between their properties to muster stock and travel safely. The current proposal would make mustering stock between paddocks that are divided by the public road near impossible. Not to mention, this valuable farming land may become impossible to maintain with such a large disruption to standard operations.

Moreover, I am troubled by Sundown Solar's intention to use scarce water resources in the area. Water is essential for survival during droughts, and given the challenges posed by climate change and the El Nino weather cycle, access to water from dams and waterways on private properties becomes imperative to sustaining these farms.

It is crucial that this development be reevaluated to safeguard the well-being of local residents and ensure their livelihoods are not put at risk irreparably. Instead of prioritising offshore profits, the focus should be on benefiting the surrounding landowners and farmers. Community engagement and open discussions are vital to reaching a renewable future where everyone's interests are considered and protected. The secrecy surrounding this project has already caused divisions within the community, making it all the more essential to include all nearby residents in the surrounding farms and of surrounding towns such as Inverell and Glen Innes in the decision-making process.

I want to oppose the Sundown Solar proposal to develop an enormous solar array with battery storage in Spring Mountain.

The significant development will immeasurably impact the neighbouring agricultural farming operations due to the large volumes of traffic using the local road network. In addition to the traffic dust, noise and safety concerns for residents and livelihoods will add another layer of stress and financial strain on the community.

The proposal to place a solar farm in this area is the wrong location. Projects of this size must consider the businesses, community and agricultural practices operating for generations. These links are the thread that holds many of these rural communities together. A once vibrant community is being torn apart by this proposal, with benefits to only a select few but a harmful footprint that will last for generations.

Regards

As A long time worker at Menari 489 spring mountain road I object to the use of spring mountain road to access the solar farm. The traffic volume alone would kill the place as my self my partner and my young kids use this road to move stock and all other farm Equpment around on a daily basis. The dust would be unbearable and kill off all crops, plants, grass, vegetable gardens and so much more. Yous really need to think about the impact you are going to put on every farm involved by using this road. You really need to look at the environmental side of things the noise and vibration, loss of amenity, financial loss, use of public roads and the massive underground water table. There are other alternatives and other roads with less impact lets have a real think about things and stop rushing into this. reguards Aaron Swaffer

I strongly object to the proposal put forward by Sundown Solar Farm to develop a Solar Farm in the Swan Vale area of NSW.

Loss of Highly Productive Agricultural Land
The Swan Vale area has long been known for being highlight productive agricultural area with rich basalt soils and high quality pastures. The proposed area covered by the Solar Farm is in excess of 2000 hectares. This is 2000+hectares of prime agricultural land that will be locked up for 35 years. I am not convinced that at the end of the 35 years this land will be returned to its former state and once again be used or agriculture.

Unacceptable Impacts to Neighbouring Landholders
For those landholders that live along the Strong Mountain Rd, there is an almost 1000% proposed increase in traffic for a period of almost 2 years. I am a regular visitor to one of those properties along Spring Mountain road and I hold grave concerns for safety implications of using this road. Heavy vehicles travelling along this road put human life at risk along with livestock. Living close to this road will become insufferable. The noise, vibrations and dust and pollute the local amenity to the extent people will not be able to continue to live where they do.

Loss of Amenity
This is a quiet country road, those who live along it live a hardworking yet peaceful life. The impact this proposal going ahead will have on their mental health will be immense. For a corporation with no understanding or compassion to be allowed to come into an area such as Swan Vale and cause such unrest, cause community breakdown and impact the local landholders so significantly is abhorrent. They have no appreciation for the local landscape, the values of the area or what will become of the site and it’s surrounds past the 35 year lease period.

Excessively poor community consultation
The community consultation process that has been undertaken since this solar farm as first thought of has been very poor. Those impacted landholders other than the hosts have had little to no opportunity to consider and understand the impacts to them. A coordinated and transparent community consultation should have taken place including Sundown Solar, those host landholders and neighbouring landholders. Host landholders should be made accountable to be open and honest with their neighbours about the project, the impacts and what they see as the benefits of proceeding. This certainly has not been the case. Until this process is undertaken this project cannot proceed.

As a former Inverell resident with strong connections to the Swan Vale community, I am writing to voice my objections concerning application No. SSD-8911 by Sundown Solar PTY Ltd.

I most certainly understand the need for solar farms to ensure a sustainable future, however more careful consideration needs to be given as to where these are placed. Swan Vale is zoned RU1 Primary production. This is high value agricultural land. Farmers and graziers are the backbone of the Swan Vale community, and their livelihoods will be adversely affected by the Sundown project

The extraordinary increase in heavy vehicle traffic in particular, on rural roads not designed to withstand such volume, will negatively impact the comfort and safety of local traffic (including school buses and ambulances), as well as directly impairing the local farmers who use these quiet rural roads to conduct their daily business and to move stock.

The local Swan Vale community deserves complete transparency at every level of this project, to have their concerns heard, and to have the opportunity to consult with the project developers in a meaningful and constructive way.

I am concerned and object to the proposed Sundown Solar Farm. The proposal to establish a solar farm on valuable arable land raises significant concerns about the trade-off between renewable energy and essential food production, farming, and agriculture. While solar panels offer a sustainable energy solution, utilising fertile land for this purpose seems counterintuitive when it should be prioritised for growing food to meet local and regional needs. It is worth considering a more remote and less arable landscape that would not compromise our critical agricultural resources.

The impact of this solar project on local ecosystems cannot be overlooked. The extraction of water resources essential for agriculture, particularly in light of the imminent dry season and the looming El Nino weather event, could prove detrimental to the region's ecological balance. With the increasing risks of climate change, preserving our water sources for farming and natural habitats becomes even more crucial for long-term sustainability.

In light of these concerns, it is essential to re-evaluate the location and potential consequences of Sundown Solar. We must prioritise both our renewable energy goals and the preservation of vital resources necessary for food production and ecosystem stability. Striking a balance between these needs is essential to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for our community and the environment.

Having been a casual visitor to the area, and being interested in the intersection of private development and community wellbeing, I wish to express my objection to the proposed privatisation of public roads that service landholders living on the Spring Mountain and Sturmans Roads. As no-through roads these landholders are accustomed to enjoying their quiet amenity and the proposed extraordinary traffic increase will be a significant impact on them.

The proponents will enjoy a financial benefit by using these roads, at the financial and wellbeing expense of local landholders. Given there is a viable alternative for the proponent NOT to create these impacts it is Council’s responsibility to mitigate these impacts on ratepayers and residents by NOT approving the use Spring Mountain and Sturmans Roads for private benefit.

If the costs of the alternative access are a financial burden for the proponent perhaps the economics of the development is questionable. This is just the proponent cost shifting the tiny loss to their private benefits to the residents along these roads, and if Council approves the change to these roads, it will be complicit. I do not believe that ratepayers would consider this part of Council’s reason for being.

I object to the proposed Sundown Solar Pty Ltd project at Spring Mountain, application no.SSD-8911.


The rapid expansion of solar farms raises concerns about the potential adverse impacts on the local environment, particularly water resources. The New England area has witnessed a significant increase in the number of large-scale renewable energy projects including solar farms. These solar farms may generate large amounts of electricity, but their establishment requires vast expanses of land to be stripped of all of its native vegetation and biodiversity and due to cost prioritisation (access to the electricity grid), has led to unacceptable land use conflicts on prime agricultural land.

The construction and operation of solar farms necessitate significant amounts of water, to mitigate dust, construct roads, cleaning and cooling of the solar panels. In regions already facing water scarcity, this increased demand is a huge concern for landholders and agricultural industries along with all of the downstream recreational users or these waterways. The potential for contamination of ground water and underground aquifers poses an unacceptable risk to not only surrounding landholders but all users of the waterways.

Regards
Simon Bonner