New Energy Development's solar farm sits right on NSW side of ACT border

At its most recent meeting, the Yass Valley Council expressed its concern over the visual amenity of the 291 hectares of solar arrays - 182,000 rotating photovoltaic panels and 20 "energy storage containers" - from fast-growing Ginninderry and the proposed Parkwood developments near west Belconnen.

The council passed a motion in which it said the "location [of the solar farm] is inconsistent with the Yass Valley Settlement Strategy as the proposal does not preserve the rural and landscape character of the area and is likely to negatively impact on the visual amenity of the area".

"The location is inconsistent with the current rural zoning due to the potential for contamination being released into agricultural and residential areas and drinking water source waterway from the ignition of cadmium storage batteries and panels in the event of a grassfire at the site," it said.

The council has no consent authority over the massive solar farm but it can insist on certain requirements being met such as appropriate geotechnical investigations and civil works.

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The solar farm is proposed by New Energy Development, part of Univergy, a Spanish-Japanese renewable energy developer company. The land is zoned as RU1 for primary production. Construction is expected to start next year.

However, the massive $170 million project just over the Murrumbidgee River - where tentative talks had been under way for growing the territory border - has raised little interest from the ACT Planning Minister nor his departmental officials.

This is despite, as the scoping documents report, "the subject land is adjacent to the NSW/ACT border, with the ACT suburbs of Dunlop and MacGregor 550m to 900m from the subject land".

The access track also forms part of the Bicentennial National Trail.

A series of questions in Estimates by Liberals MLA Elizabeth Kikkert had sought to determine how close a solar farm can be located to an established ACT commercial or residential area. However, in his response, Planning Minister Mick Gentleman virtually admitted in this case, he was powerless to intervene.

"The solar farm is proposed within NSW and is not subject to the Territory Plan or ACT zoning. Therefore, the territory's current requirements do not apply," he said.

David Maxwell's Riverview development, which is expected to span the Murrumbidgee River as it grows, will have the farm as its nearest neighbour.

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