ACT still in dark on Wallaroo solar farm concerns

ACT Government concerns about the Wallaroo solar farm development just across the NSW border appear to have languished for years and have still not been addressed.

An Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) submission to the NSW Independent Planning Commission assessing the project dated 31 July lists concerns about potential environmental damage, noise impacts on border suburbs, bushfire risk and roads and traffic management that have been repeatedly raised since 2020.

EPSDD told the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure in June 2024 that the draft conditions of approval for the project had not adequately covered possible impacts on the adjacent Jarramlee Nature Reserve and the key role that ACT RFS and ACT Fire & Rescue would play in any emergency response to the site.

It called for extra conditions to be placed on the proponent, including a 10-metre vegetation buffer between the solar farm and the reserve before the start of the battery storage facility, and for ACT RFS and ACT Fire & Rescue to be included as main stakeholders for all emergency and fire-related matters.

In the new submission, EPSDD complained that the response from NSW about the risk to Jarramlee had been limited to visual impacts only.

“EPSDD is of the view that a buffer of scattered vegetation planting as suggested by the applicant would provide some protection but may not provide sufficient mitigation for potential indirect impacts,” it says.

A buffer would “significantly strengthen the protection of the reserve and its values”.

EPSDD also reiterated that ACT emergency services needed to be consulted, given ACT RFS and ACT Fire and Rescue would be the first responders to any incident.

NSW Department of Planning and Environment was told in June 2023 that the site was within a kilometre of the ACT built-up area and about a kilometre from a cluster of rural residential properties along Wallaroo Road.

“This space is sufficient to allow a fire originating from the proposal to develop full rate of spread and intensity with limited warning,” EPSDD said.

“As such, robust controls through construction and operation will be required to manage the risk of bushfire ignition.”

It urged no-work days in total fire bans and for the proponent to consider how the battery units could be safeguarded on high-fire risk days by limiting their use and risk of thermal runaway or another failure.

EPSDD also said the 40,000-litre water tank was insufficient, urging a rethink of the amount of water required according to ACT and NSW fire agency requirements and how it would be refilled in drought conditions.

In June 2024, the ACT EPA was worried about contaminated water run-off during firefighting into Ginninderry Creek and the Murrumbidgee River and sought more information about how this would be managed (for example, with a retention pond).

The ACT agency also wanted the noise assessment in the EIS upgraded. The compliance points were in Dunlop and Macgregor at existing residences but the Ginninderry future high-density urban area will be less than 300 metres from the proposed solar farm.

It told the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure that noise levels on the ACT/NSW border would need to comply with a noise zone limit of 45/35 dB when the project started operating.

The proposal will also require certain road upgrades to handle construction, but it has been a year since Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) was consulted about the Barton Highway/Wallaroo Road intersection.

The submission to the panel says the applicant must assess the state of local roads to be impacted and prepare a Traffic Management Plan in consultation with Transport for NSW, Yass Valley Council, and Transport Canberra and City Services.

The ACT Government has come under fire for allegedly taking a soft line with the solar farm proposal, but a spokesperson said it had been involved since 2020 and throughout out the EIS process.

It also urged continued consultation between the proponent and ACT residents, including more measures to reduce visual impacts.

The spokesperson said the NSW planning process should address and seek to mitigate any impacts on surrounding landholders as much as possible.

“These important projects must achieve an appropriate social licence to operate, including through thorough consultation processes,” the spokesperson said.

“The ACT will continue to work with the NSW Government to support the best planning and energy investment outcomes for the Canberra region.”

The spokesperson played down concerns about the project’s negative impact on wine tourism.

“In broad terms, a solar farm would have less impact on the Canberra region wine industry than a small modular nuclear reactor, a coal-fired power station or a gas-powered generator,” the spokesperson said.

Fears about property values in Macgregor and Dunlop have also been raised. Some have cited Dutch research that solar farms there have had a negative impact on house prices and that Dunlop homeowners could suffer an average $20,000 hit, more for those closest to the project.

The spokesperson dismissed these concerns.

“It is difficult to confirm if such comparisons can be made with the Australian residential market,” the spokesperson said.

“Given long-term growth trends in the Australian housing market, it is difficult to see how any price fall related to a solar farm would be sustained.”