Minister calls in solar farm application

VICTORIAN Planning Minister Richard Wynne has agreed to the Surf Coast Shire’s request to jointly consider two related renewable energy projects near Inverleigh.

The shire would normally be the responsible planning authority for a solar farm, but in May, the council asked Mr Wynne to call in the planning permit application for the 16- to 22-megawatt solar farm to streamline consultation and evaluation, and prevent confusion.

By law, the state government is responsible for deciding on the 16-turbine wind farm at the corner of Peels and Gnarwarre roads.

The wind and solar farms are proposed to share a sub-station and operate as an integrated facility. Shire mayor David Bell welcomed Mr Wynne’s decision to call in the solar application.

“The proposals are closely linked; it makes sense for the minister to be considering community views on both.

“Council is committed to meeting renewable energy targets and supports development of wind farms in the shire but our submission to the minister on this application highlighted a range of particular community concerns about potential local impacts.

“We are pleased that Mr Wynne has recognised that the applications are interdependent and the council looks forward to being able to present its point of view.”

The council’s August submission noted that wind farms are an important element in Victoria achieving a target of 25 percent energy from renewable sources by 2020.

There has been some opposition to the wind turbines from residents living near the site, and the council’s submission stated that community engagement on the wind farm proposal had not metcommunity expectation, or followed Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning engagement guidelines.

“Council’s submission noted that an alternative community engagement model providing early, ongoing and meaningful engagement would improve the likelihood of an outcome that meets community expectation and supports state objectives for acceptance of renewable energy,” Cr Bell said.