Waste of money! Toxic junk that will last maybe a decade provided there isn't a good hailstorm. No recycling solution for the millions of solar panels planed for the area, let alone the entire state. Appears that the foreign owed developer has control over way more land than is required for the project. Traffic impacts, bushfire impacts and environmental impacts should halt this project. Trashing the environment to reportedly "save" the environment is appalling. The only beneficiary here is the developer. No joy for the electricity consumer, the result will be intermittent exorbitant electricity prices.

An large grid scale lithium ion battery that is very expensive to develop will lead to expensive electricity for energy consumers.
Apart from its enormous cost, the toxic nature of these batteries when they catch fire is an unacceptable risk to human health including our fire fighters.

This project is not going to benefit electricity consumers. The BESS will require replacement in less than 10 years, resulting in more toxic landfill. The project area, according to the Malaysian developer is over 6000 ha - why so big? What is coming down the pipeline next? Quarry, waste dump, wind, more BESS more Solar? Why is the NSW Government allowing so much of our agricultural land in NSW to be controlled by foreign companies? Why has the University of Sydney handed over control of over 6000 ha it was bequeathed?

This BESS is a fire hazard, there is no procedure in place for any local fire services to manage a battery fire on this scale. A 40,000 litre water tank will not extinguish a fire in a BESS. It appears the 40,000 litre tank also has to provide water for the solar component of the project as well.

Is Spark Infrastructure relying on local volunteer fire teams if a fire breaks our anywhere on their project area(over 6000 ha)?

What slave or child labour has been used to mine components of the BESS? What is the country of origin for all BESS components?

This project will cost us dearly both environmentally and financially. I object to this project.

Arthursleigh was bequeathed to the University of Sydney 1979, it is a valuable resource for teaching and should not be destroyed to enhance the profits of Spark Renewables, which is owned by a Malaysian company.

Spark Infrastructure refers to the wind farm at the same site, has UMWELT (German for Environment....what a sad joke!) made a error in their EIS or is there an industrial scale wind project planned for Arthursleigh as well?

This project is not in the public benefit. The only beneficiary is the foreign controlled company. Unrecyclable toxic waste will be the result, combined with environmental destruction from this project and it associated transmission, substation, solar and wind (??) projects. Where are the battery components coming from? China? Via slave labour mining in underdeveloped nations? How much diesel will be used to keep the BESS running? Who will put the fire out? Or will it be like the battery fires, from transportation of EV's, where everyone flees the "ship" because battery fires cannot be extinguished.

I object to the Wattle Creek BESS for the following reasons:

Human Factor - My family bought our property with the express purpose of getting away from the concrete, steel and glass of the city. Now it feels like the corporations and government are hell bent on turning huge swaths of green agricultural land into industrial energy zones all over NSW. The majority of landowners I speak to object to turning RU1 zoned land into ghastly black hills of glass for the greater good of the state. What about the greater good of our region or my neighbours? Many of my neighbours are deeply affected by the prospect of the developments and their mental health is suffering terribly. It is a shame that in this development, that a Canadian Pension Fund (the owners of Spark Renewables) will come before NSW residents who will bear the burden of the 30 year aftermath(the lifetime of the development) of this development. The tragedy is a devastating loss of agricultural land, especially one with significant heritage value such as Arthursleigh.

Loss of Agricultural Land
‘Electricity generating works’ are prohibited in the RU1 zone.

For the greater good.
“The Project would provide long-term, strategic benefits to the State of NSW:”
And what are the strategic benefits for the region? Of the $540 million in capital for the construction phase only 15% will benefit the 3 local LGA’s. Goulburn Mulwaree Council will bear the brunt of the construction activity, affecting roads, road safety, housing and community. Many houses in the area have their own personal solar power and do not rely on the grid.

Crowded Footprint
This proposed development will join two other approved developments within 500m of each other, those being the 2 Gas-Fired Turbine Power Stations yet to be built by Energy Australia. In addition, there is another developer X-Elio who is proposing another BESS within 500m of the development. This makes FIVE potential developments making it an extremely busy area, which will put untold pressure on residents from heavy traffic movements, poor road conditions (unsealed), noise, dust and road safety.
Further, there is already increased heavy vehicle traffic along Brayton Road from the expanded Gunlake Quarry operations.

Visual Impacts
At the moment, when my mother wakes in the morning, she looks out and see’s green agricultural land and eucalypt forest. Now she will have the potential to see undulating black solar glass, countless new roads, countless white shipping containers (transformers), 2 Batteries, 1 Sub-station, transmission towers and lines and 2 Gas Fired power stations with eight 40m smoke stacks. It will look like disgraceful industrial landscape, for the ‘greater good’, of course! Our property looks down onto the development, no amount of screening and landscaping will hide this massive development. It will be a terrible stain on the landscape and will devalue our property in the process.

Heritage
Arthursleigh is large pastoral holding, developed by Hannibal Macarthur. Upper Lachlan Shire received advice by Dr Jennifer Tracey recommending that listing Arthursleigh be listed as a Heritage Item. No developments should be built on land which has significant heritage value.

Transport and road safety
Canyonleigh Road is unsealed and becomes degraded after storms. There is no plan to seal the road which will potentially have 5 developments (Spark Solar,+BESS, Spark BESS, x-Elio BESS, Energy Australia Gas Fired Power Stations 1 and 2) using it.
Brayton Road already has heavy traffic from Gunlake Quarry. There will be too much traffic for multiple developments at once in a small area.

Fire Safety
The NSW Rural Fire Service has stated that the subject site contains, and is adjoining bush fire prone land.
Is the community going the sacrifice it’s volunteer firefighters on five multi-million dollar developments, which are fully insured? An adequate and global fire strategy needs to be developed for this region.

Housing and jobs
The region has a housing crisis.The local community is already employed. That means the 300 workers for construction will come from outside the region. There is not enough housing to accommodate the workers. If the Gas-fired turbine power stations start development, it will put too much strain on the region. Job opportunities drop from 250 during construction to 20 or less during operation. The long term financial community benefit is not consistent.

For the reasons outlined above, I object to this development.

The University of Sydney is pleased to support Spark Renewables in relation to their development application (Case ID SSD-63345458) for the Wattle Creek Battery Energy Storage System, located on the University’s property in regional New South Wales (Arthursleigh, Brayton).
Spark Renewables was selected as the University’s preferred partner following a competitive process, and we have since entered into a long-term collaboration to support the development of a hybrid solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) facility at Arthursleigh. This project represents a significant opportunity to advance the University’s sustainability, research, and education objectives. As part of this agreement, the Wattle Creek Battery Energy Storage System will not only contribute to the decarbonisation of the electricity grid, but also serve as a platform for high-impact research and innovation. Under the Research and Education Agreement, the University and Spark Renewables will collaborate on a range of research initiatives.
Attached is the letter of support from the University with further detail, signed by the Interim Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, The University of Sydney.