Not everyone is happy about Victoria’s Mount Alexander Shire Council allowing Castlemaine smallgoods manufacturer Don KR to construct a big solar power system; with conditions.
Commercial solar is a wonderful thing. It helps companies save money on energy costs while slashing their emissions. But sometimes how and where the solar panels are installed can create some friction.
Mount Alexander Shire Council received an application for the construction of a proposed 3.5MW solar farm next to the Don KR facility at Richards Road in Castlemaine. The facility will be comprised of 9,400 solar panels, plus all of the other usual kit involved with a small solar farm.
A couple of particularly thorny points raised by opponents to the project:
- The land is zoned (and used) for farming related activities. Allowing it would set a precedent.
- Some native vegetation will need to be cleared.
The following image shows the layout of the solar farm under a revised plan. Part of the Don KR facility can be seen in the bottom right.
In terms of agriculture, grazing will be able to continue once the facility is constructed. With regard to vegetation, a flora and fauna survey carried out revealed vegetation is in poor condition based on the high ratio of exotic species compared to native species. But there were a number of trees that would be removed.
The total number of trees to go under the revised layout has been reduced to 17 – 5 large and 12 small; all scattered over the site. Seed collection from these trees will occur prior to removal, which will be propagated and replanted elsewhere on the site. Nest boxes will also be put in place for various bird species to use.
Along with some other tinkering and conditions put in place; it was decided at a meeting on Tuesday night Council would issue a Notice of Decision to Grant a Planning Permit. But there will still be more regulatory hoops to jump through for the Don KR solar installation to proceed.
You can read more about the project and conditions here (starts on page 39).
What About Rooftop Solar?
The Don KR Castlemaine facility has a huge rooftop.
The main buildings cover a distance of around 480 metres. With all the complexity involved with getting this project over the line and the general nature of it, perhaps it would have been faster and cheaper to take advantage of all that space.
But maybe such a system wouldn’t be big enough. And just because a rooftop may look good for solar panels, it doesn’t necessarily make it so. For example, some of the rooftop may be what’s sometimes referred to as a “slender roof”.
Some industrial roofs are built to minimum specification, meaning they may not be strong enough to host a bunch of solar panels; and roof strengthening would be too expensive.
While on the topic, it seems some houses have “slender roofs” too. It’s worth checking out before you buy or build if you intend harvesting solar energy from your rooftop. For a house I had built a few years ago, I needed to pay extra for an upgraded truss layout so I could have a decent sized system installed down the track.
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Given developers regularly bulldoze areas that koalas and other natives live, and then councils post warning signs for new residents to say there are (were) koalas etc in the area, this doesn’t seem like it’s such a big deal. Councils only seem to care about the possibility of koalas etc residing in an area when it’s a private homeowner trying to develop their own property – and in this case Don KR appear to be trying to minimise their impact.
As for land being zoned exclusively for farming being hybridised with solar, is that so different to farming + fracking?
As a solar skeptic I’m not seeing the big deal here. Am I missing something???
Come on George, fracking (like it or not) uses a smallish land area around the well head when the well is first drilled along with an access track. Vehicles occasionally go to the well head for servicing and maintenance and workover of the well may occasionally involve franking. The land disturbance is vastly less than the sort of area involved in the proposed Don project.
For the record I am in favour of solar developments and in many locations there is land that is unsuitable for agriculture or of lesser value for the local native species that can be used. Here in WA salt lakes are a prime example. There are many disused right of ways as well.
Just stay on topic and resist the temptation to throw in emotive terms. If you want to discuss franking by all means do it in an appropriate forum.