Tamworth Battery Energy Storage System

I object to this and similar projects in this area. It will be massive eyesore, taking away from the natural ambience of the existing rural setting and nearby residential estates. The proposed prevents a fire risk and its location is inappropriate for a multitude of reasons
1 It is less than 4km from our ALEC Horse Venue Centre, a major commercial infrastructure of Tamworth, frequented by tens of thousands of people annual and is well known Nationally and internationally
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2 This sets a classic of ruining an environment in order to save the environment under the guise of Climate Change Agenda
3 The site is literally a few hundred meters from the expanding Calala Residential Estate and the existing area of prime farming land and hobby farms is earmarked for residential development inline with Tamworth's Blueprint 100 plan to double our population over the next 20 years
4 This is by no means "Fit For Purpose" in its proposed location as it will severely impact on the organic expansion of Tamworth centered around the vicinity to our CBD and ease of access to services into the future
5 There is no guarantee of contamination or water sources both undergrounds streams literally located under the proposed structure and nearby creek that feeds into both Tamworth and other surrounding towns water supplies

This project and other similar proposed projects are located far to close to Tamworth Residential areas, all the existing land where the Valent Energy Project is proposed is predominately prime rural farming land and hobby farms and within a few hundred meters of the ever expanding Calala residential estates. I believe this whole area has been earmarked for future residential development due to its vicinity to the center of Tamworth, literally less than 15 minutes drive to the town center, and all major sporting and entertainment facilities and less than 5 minutes to our ALEC National Horse and Multipurpose Function Center (home to Tamworth Show and multiple other events)
Beggers Belief that this type of industry would be located within such close proximity to all the above.
It has also come to my attention that this project is owned and operated by Hong Kong/China based companies who core business is Property Development, Shipping and Gas Exploration. There appears to be a conflict of interest that these companies are purely invested due to the unprecedented Returns on Investment offered by our government at the expense of taxpayers and the impact on local communities. I also struggle to understand how a China/Hong Kong entity will have control over critical Australia Energy Infrastructure. This should be ring alarm bells loud and clear, especially due to recent Spying accusations brought before the Attorney General Mark Dreyfus
Any rezoning of this land by the DPI should not be allowed without consultation with appropriate intelligence and government departments on any potential issues with Energy security from Foreign owned and controlled infrastructure.
On another note, with the unprecedented rollout of these so called renewable and battery systems, why the goodness is are these projects approved with such haste and on individual basis without full and transparent community consultation. the ever expanding scale of these projects is not properly planned and structured with what appears rezoning of land on the run.
Why are not ALL these projects if deemed necessary by the government all located far out west or in areas of Australia where the land is not arable or productive, surely it makes more sense to build and consolidate all these projects into areas that do not impact farming and residential communities.

I am writing to express my deep concerns regarding the proposed development of the Tamworth Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). As a member of the community whose family members are directly impacted by this project, I urge you to carefully consider the numerous risks and concerns associated with its implementation.
First and foremost, the development of the BESS poses significant threats to our environment and natural resources. The disturbance of the topography of land and removal of contour banks will undoubtedly lead to adverse impacts on soil and land use. This alteration of the landscape could result in increased water flow into nearby watercourses such as the Goonoo Goonoo Creek, jeopardising the delicate hydrology and water quality of the area.
Furthermore, the potential for a lithium-ion battery fire presents a grave danger to both the environment and public health. In the event of such a fire, there is a real risk of contamination of underground water sources, further exacerbating the already precarious situation.
The visual impacts of the BESS on sensitive receivers cannot be understated. Our community cherishes the natural beauty of our surroundings, and the introduction of such industrial infrastructure would irreversibly mar the landscape, robbing us of our scenic vistas and diminishing our quality of life.
Equally concerning are the potential physical and mental health impacts on affected residents. The stress and anxiety caused by living in close proximity to a large-scale industrial facility cannot be ignored. Studies have shown that exposure to such environments can lead to a myriad of health issues, including but not limited to respiratory problems, sleep disturbances, and heightened levels of stress and anxiety.
Moreover, there are significant economic ramifications to consider. The devaluation of neighboring properties and the potential inability to sell homes due to their proximity to the BESS would have devastating consequences for homeowners in the area. Many of which have invested their life savings into these homes and properties, and the prospect of losing significant equity is deeply distressing.
Lastly, the inadequately assessed hazards and emergency response plans in the case of lithium-ion battery incidents are deeply troubling. Our community deserves reassurance that proper safeguards are in place to mitigate the risks associated with such a hazardous material.
In light of these concerns, I urge you to reconsider the development of the Tamworth Battery Energy Storage System. The potential risks far outweigh any perceived benefits, and the long-term consequences for our community and environment are simply too great to ignore.
Thank you for considering my concerns. I implore you to prioritise the well-being of our community and take decisive action to protect our environment and livelihoods.
Regards

I am a resident of Calala and live very close to the proposed project. I like express my objection to this project for the reason below:
1. Lack of community consultation of the planning this project
2. This project will remove viable lands for future residential development. Furthermore, it will reduce the property value of the surrounding area.
3. The Technology is relatively new and untested in the field. As a resident nearby I am concern of my family health and safety as we all know Lithium batteries have the potential to catch on fire.
4. Valent Energy is a relatively new company and appears to have no historical data of any successful and safe completion of similar project in Australia. With its parent company GAW and BW Group core businesses being property development and shipping and Gas exploration.
5. It recently come to my attention that land in Tamworth has been slowly acquired by overseas companies without the knowledge of the community and residence. How is it legal that these overseas companies able to acquire so much land in Tamworth and have them re-zoned to suit their interest at the expense of Tamworth community.

Thank you for considering my letter
Bernard Chu

I live adjacent to the proposed project that is proposed to be constructed on land that is Rural Zoned. The proposed project is approximately 200m from my fence line, and is located directly above the underground water stream that is the same stream that supplies our bore water supply, as we do not have access to town water, we are reliant on our bore and rain water for ourselves, our gardens, our horse and other animals, during a wet season the water level in our bore is approximately 3 meters from the surface--As the proposed site will need to be excavated and most likely encompass the existing bore on the property , it may also affect the underground stream water flow.
The Glossy animated pictures of what the site will look like when completed is fictional to say the least, the "STORAGE" units are nothing more than glorified shipping containers, which over time will be like living next door to a USED CAR YARD, they will NOT blend in with the Environment, not to mention the Glare and the Noise and the Fire Hazards. Valent Energy will claim the risk is minimal, they also claim once operational the site is "UN-MANNED", all REMOTE operation--So WHAT IF there is a problem and the REMOTE OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS FAIL--Helicopter from SYDNEY, time anything arrives would be TO LATE!!
In addition to this the proposed new battery technology to be used that is not operational in any other Valent Energy project to date. In fact, to the best of my knowledge Valent Energy has not completed any projects with this technology to date with their main parent companies GAW Capital (A Hong Kong Property developer) and BW Group--whose main/core business is Shipping and Gas Exploration, it is hard to ascertain what level of expertise Valent Energy in Australia has, bar proposed projects. It also appears Valent Energy is a relatively new company, their website seems to spruik about their parent companies' investment, but where are all the ticks on the board so to speak for Valent Energy to carry out such significant and not fully tested (in my view) systems.
The way in which land has been acquired through what is best described as underhanded, by offering owners nearly double what their property is worth and requesting non-disclosure agreements/arrangements fracturing our local communities, this same tactic has been enacted by various entities, in some cases the project has been on sold with agreements in place multiple times, all the while the land has been classed RURAL, the community has NOT been consulted that their land would be rezoned. The ethics of this and all projects in vicinity are highly questionable.
To date 2 adjacent properties to the East of our property, one 2km NE and Neighbour 20 meters!! away, sold or under NDA agreement to be sold. Valent and the other 2 known plus who knows how many more, as additional land has been purchased in secrecy, all these back onto RESIDENTIAL Estates, literally a few hundred meters away--How the bloody hell has this been allowed to happen. Whilst at the same time we have been advised by local real estate agents that our property will lose 25% of its value should this project proceed, again where are the ethics, where is the transparency!
The approval of this and any other project MUST be at a minimum put ON HOLD to a full and transparent investigation is conducted and a above board and transparent system put in place that approves ALL these projects on a cumulative basis and their cumulative impact, not the staged Individual approval process that negates the true effects of the overall impacts to the community as a whole
The Acquisition of this land is not just unethical but totally Un Australian. My father a WW2 Veteran would be turning in his grave at what has become of this country he fought for and many of his mates died for.
Australia has faced concerns in recent years over Foreign Countries involvement in Australia, Australia already experiencing data breaches and security breaches from China controlled companies such as Huawei, Hikvision and Dahua. These issues have been raised and addressed with Attorney General Mark Dreyfus (Reference BBC World News Feb 23). Can Australia afford to have Foreign owned companies owning and operating critical Australian Infrastructure?
I find myself asking WHY?
WHY has Australia gone down this path of destruction --Net Zero Australia prices the 2050 Net Zero at 79 trillion Dollars. Australia simply does not have the money to pay for this, Australia is already 1.5 trillion in debt (Federal & State) --Is it a race to see how quick we can get to 3rd World Country Status?

Climate The Movie, sums up how Science has been manipulated to fuel the CO2/Climate Change narrative, with most scientists/graduates entering the field only have access to work that is aligned with the CO2 narrative, I hope the DPI team can spare the time to watch the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A24fWmNA6lM

All these battery farms, wind farms, solar farms are based on a lie and more and more politicians, academics and scientists locally and globally are speaking out.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton recently stated a Coalition government will dump Australia's legally binding climate target to cut emissions by 43 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. With the next Election due around September 2025, it is apparent that there will be a change of government, hence a change of policy, with what is fair to assume as a "cease and desist" on any future "SO CALLED" green projects, and fair to assume compensation claims from the so-called developers. As this project even if it did proceed would not be completed before a change of government.

I believe the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has a major role in preventing this project and all other similar projects from proceeding in any area that in its existing zoning is classed Rural, as the best use for that long term is Rural, with the option of our expanding Tamworth Region to become Residential at some stage down the track, as what has occurred with the adjacent farming country to this project.
I believe there is sufficient proof that the whole Climate Change and Paris accord agenda are fraudulent, with debate around anyone opposing censored, with this fraud capturing our political arena through Lobby Groups and Foreign companies more interested in Wealth creation at the cost of Australian Citizens, well and truly evident on the ROI (Return On Investment) which I believe to be in excess of 1000 % over the project life of approx. 20 years. Ask yourself from a business perspective and noted by Barnaby Joyce recently in Parliament "These Foreign Owned Companies look at Australia as a BUNCH OF SUCKERS", and he is 100% right.
Anyone that is not aligned with stopping these projects from destroying ours and our children's future needs to do some serious research and thinking before it's too late. Many out there think it already is.
I provide the following information in the hope that it will provide sound reasoning as to why this and similar projects should proceed, with details of experts/. scientists to reference

NET ZERO IS PREDICTED ON 3 FALSEHOODS
1 Carbon Dioxide, Methane and Nitrous Oxide appreciably warm the atmosphere
2 The Earths Atmosphere is warming
3 Wind, Solar (and Battery Backup) systems are cheaper than Coal Fired Power Stations

Lie #1 All of the below appreciably disagree that CO2 warms the Atmosphere

Professor Dr John Clauser
Professor Dr Richard Lindzen
Professor Dr Will Happer
Professor Dr Don Easterbrook
Professor Dr Willie Soon…...the list of eminent physicists goes on….

All disagree unequivocally with the subject assertion.
The CSIRO have been challenged to provide proof that CO2 appreciably warms the earth’s atmosphere, and they cannot.

Lie#2. The Earth’s Atmosphere
is Warming.
No… Actually, it’s Cooling!
Following raw temperature data taken from temperature measuring stations that are real and have not been encroached upon by urbanization.

These temperature measuring stations belong to credible climatology networks in many different parts of the world.
Data taken from “long term” weather stations
As @March 2021 BoM Map indicates there are 2,641 stations
Australia (1877-2016) Average trend downwards
for 139 years
Lie#3.
Wind and Solar are Cheaper
than Brown Coal
The CSIRO Gencost Paper asserting Wind and Solar Generation Systems are cheaper than Coal is seriously flawed to the point of it being mendacious.

a rough scoping of a proposed 8GW pumped hydro scheme to be installed in Northern New South Wales.
The cost of electricity generated by solar is likely to be ~21 cents/kWh
The cost of electricity generated by brown coal is ~2.5 cents/kWh
To provide reliable power will require storage 4 times the size of Warragamba Dam!

From 2021 report, who wouldn't support Climate change with the hundreds of billions of dollars involved--China to discourage coal use in developing countries
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/china-keeps-playing-the-west-for

Fast forward to 2024, China adds 50 Gigawatt of extra Coal fired power in
2023 alone, nearly 100% of all "SO CALLED" renewables are imported from China

In summary, the proposed Battery Farm project is based on a Climate Change Lie, there is Global evidence that the Climate Change agenda is nothing more than a transfer of wealth from Australia to organizations perpetuating this Scam, in addition all government departments, all levels of government and all individuals working for these departments that enable any of these projects to proceed will be held accountable for their actions, as the true nature of these scams will be exposed. Only then will the perpetrators feel the pain that they have inflicted on the communities they have destroyed, the lives and livelihoods they have destroyed and the ultimate sacrifice of some that see no other way out then that of their own life.

Concerned resident that the influx of traffic on already stretched roads and potential noise disturbance could negatively impact the value of properties and hinder Lampada desirability.

I strongly object to this project and any similar solar projects in the area, why should we, the people in the county put up with this sort of project to supply a large percentage of the power generated, to the city. This is going to be a disaster for the environment and health of the people and animals.
Wake up

This project is an unsightly blight on the Calala estate. Many people will be affected by this visual industrial view, which is close to thousands of homes in very close proximity, who will also be in grave danger should a thermal runaway event occur. This area is/was a quiet outer rural suburb of Tamworth surrounded by Farmland and extensive equine business and infrastructure. This type of industrial installation should not be in towns but should be placed in areas well outside of any populated area!!!

Energy factories and storage do not belong on prime agriculture land

Good agriculture land should not be used to build electricity factories

With the rapid expansion of battery storage infrastructure, it is imperative to thoroughly understand and mitigate any adverse effects on local communities to ensure sustainable and safe energy solutions. This project is yet another addition to a long list of rushed renewable energy proposals that sacrifice valuable farmland and farms for the sake of the 'environment', often without adequate consideration of the local impact.

The presence of these facilities near homes poses several significant risks and concerns:
The introduction of battery storage facilities may cause socioeconomic disruptions and psychological stress among residents. However, these impacts have not been sufficiently researched. Potential consequences include decreased property values, community opposition to renewable energy projects, and long-term mental health issues.
Lack of Baseline Data: There is a significant gap in baseline data on community perceptions and mental health impacts related to battery storage facilities.
Environmental Pollutants and Health Risks: Residents living near battery storage facilities are potentially exposed to environmental pollutants and health risks. Despite this, there is a lack of comprehensive studies addressing these concerns. Limited long-term data on emissions and pollutants from these facilities, coupled with variability in regulatory standards and enforcement, exacerbates these risks.
Difficulty in Isolating Effects: The challenge of isolating the effects of battery storage facilities from other environmental factors makes it difficult to quantify the psychological and social impacts accurately. This uncertainty raises serious concerns about the potential negative consequences for our community's health and well-being.

The importance of addressing these issues cannot be overstated. The potential pollutants from battery storage facilities could lead to significant health issues, environmental degradation, and a decreased quality of life for nearby residents. It is crucial to prioritise the health, safety, and well-being of Tamworth residents over the interests of foreign-owned network operators.

I am a resident living in a housing estate, in close promiximity to this proposed development.
I object to this development on the following basis:
As the site will operate 24hours per day, I am very concerned about noise levels which I undertstand exceeds current levels.
The increase in road traffic to our local area.
Drainage from the site will go into Goonooo Goonoo Creek and then into the Peel River, which runs through Tamworth.

This is not the right area for such a project.

The location of this project has not been thought out. The fact that 100% of profits from this battery storage do not stay in Australia is ludicrous. Tamworth locals are expected to be inconvenienced and suffer from potential health impacts is not ok!

Dangerous to the area, fire risk, noise. Overseas money not local. Waste of land .

Too many houses in close proximity. Bushfire prone area. Traffic will increase unreasonably for local residents. Possible emission of toxic gases. Drainage will go into rivers. BESS emit noise. How will residents sleep?

This submission is not in a good area, we live very close & believe this is a very dangerous place to allow so many storage batteries to be placed in such a built up area. With this site being up hill from the local Goonoo Goonoo Creek which leads into the Peel River which supplies water to country towns. So the water from the BESS site will run down into the water supply for human drinking water. The constant humming that is created from current Battery Storage Systems is reported as high & distressing.

The project is far too close to a prime residential area on the edge of a rapidly growing regional town. The proposal has severe noise pollution implications for all surrounding residential properties, is a real and genuine fire risk in an area that is often at high risk due to the climatic conditions and lack of rainfall in this area. All of this is in addition to the eyesore it will be to all surrounding properties in this area that is zoned as a prime residential and rural residential area.
Tamworth has grown in the last 20 years to be a large regional centre attracting a number of National and International tourists for all of its sporting and recreational activities that it has to offer. This battery plant would significantly reduce the value of the land, destroy the natural beauty of this area and remove/ reduce a number of local people's livelihoods as a knock on effect of this development. There is absolutely no long term benefit to any local inhabitants and the only people that will profit are people who have absolutely no vested interest in this area and are happy to destroy it! This proposed monstrosity would be at the entrance and gateway to a rapidly expanding regional area and would actively discourage any new visitors, new home owners and tourists to the area. Our local council has actively encouraged, supported and funded the development of new sporting and lifestyle facilities to this area and this battery and solar farm proposal would immediately stop and destroy everything that has been achieved for this town to date!

This project is not beneficial for Calala, for Tamworth and will disturb the peace of our rural suburb. It will create more traffic to an already extreamly crowded area and council need to fix this problem.

To dangerous to be that close to 2 service stations and houses