Community meets solar developer
Company announces it will upgrade Renshaw-mcgirr Way/suntop Road intersection
A PACKED hall showed how concerned Suntop area residents are about a giant solar farm proposed for the area.
More than 70 people were at Wellington’s Civic Centre last Tuesday to garner information and get answers from representatives of Photon Energy, the company that has already proposed building a solar farm in the Suntop area and is now planning a second one.
There was resentment that local residents had to organise the forum, rather than Photon running the community consultation in a way residents felt was real consultation.
One of the organisers, Sam Frogley, said he was pleased with the turnout.
“The wider community has not had any consultation from Photon, so I am glad that we were able to get the word out there,” Mr Frogley said. Dubbo Photo News
contacted Photon Energy and was told in a statement that the company undertook a number of community consultations.
“An initial public meeting was held on August 30, 2017, at the Arthurville Rural Fire Shed,” the statement said. “From there Photon Energy visited Suntop for oneon-one meetings with neighbouring properties on September 14, 2017, November 23, 2017, and February 5-7, 2018.
“The project was also publicly exhibited by NSW State Planning from June 6, 2018, to July 6, 2018,” the company stated.
After last week’s meeting, Mr Frogley said, “We didn’t really get any substantive answers, but it was great to hear so many relevant concerns raised.”
One major concern is the sheer size of the development, with the footprint of it and another proposed solar project just north of Wellington, more than a third larger than the Wellington township itself.
Other concerns raised included increased traffic and also plans for any bushfire emergencies.
“Fires was definitely a big one,” Mr Frogley said. “As RFS volunteers, will we be expected to go in and fight an electrical fire?” he questioned.
“The extra traffic on the roads, which will include up to 40 B-doubles on the Renshaw Mcgirr Way and Suntop Road daily for two years, was also a big problem.
“I think everyone that was there agreed that these roads are just not suitable for that amount of traffic,” he said.
Project Manager for the Suntop solar farms Nick Guzowski said the company has heard the community concerns and is taking them on board.
The company sent Dubbo Photo News the traffic and bushfire studies it’s already undertaken and said, along with other required studies, these are evolving and still underway, which is normal for a project of this size at this point in the planning process.
“We have listened to concerns and I’m pleased to announce that we will upgrade the intersection of Renshaw-mcgirr Way and Suntop Road,” Mr Guzowski said.
“We are working with Council to ensure that the roads are maintained in safe condition for residents and trucks during the construction period; we are committed to repairing any damage caused because of construction vehicles.
“Canadian Solar and Photon Energy are also instituting a driver code of conduct during construction to ensure heavy vehicles avoid these roads during the busy school bus pickup and drop-off times,” he said.
Mr Frogley urged other locals who could be affected by the development to make submissions to the State Government, voicing their objections. “At the end of the day, they’re the ones who will make the final decision,” he said.
One resident who contacted Dubbo Photo News claimed Photon had put certain conditions on their representatives attending last week’s meeting, a claim Photon refuted. “Photon Energy did not set conditions... We did not require questions to be submitted earlier, however we did ask that if there was anything that required a detailed response if those questions could be supplied earlier then we could properly answer them,” a company spokesperson said.
“The company did request the meeting was not recorded... as we wanted to ensure an environment in which people didn’t feel intimidated by cameras or recording devices to ask questions,” the statement said.
Mr Guzowski called the meeting a success. “We wanted the community meeting to be a genuine and fair process, to hear all of their concerns, take on board the feedback and respond in a considered manner.
“(We) will continue to provide opportunities for the community to raise their concerns,” he said.