Adequate transparency and community consultation on renewable energy projects is still severely lacking, local landholders have expressed.
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They have specifically decried the approach to communication after a public meeting on the Dinawan Solar Farm scheduled to be held in Coleambally last week was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
The Independent Planning Commission instead held individual stakeholder meetings, citing “lower than expected in-person speaker registrations”.
Registered speaker Andrew Sleigh, who will have renewable projects transect his property, said in making the decision, the IPC did not consider the interest from those who wanted to learn more as a spectator of the meeting.
As one of three locals accepted to speak at the meeting, Mr Sleigh said he was there to represent a group of more than 10 landholders in the Bundure District Landholder Group who would have also been in attendance.
And he said other community members had expressed an interest in attending to be educated on the issues and next steps.
“I was selected as a spokesperson for a group of landholders, and in hindsight we probably should have stacked the meeting and all requested to speak individually,” Mr Sleigh said.
“We have expressed disappointment because the decision to change the meeting format was based on registrations and not the actual interest of the community.
“The individual consultations are not the same, and just don’t give us the voice we really wanted in this.”
Mr Sleigh said this was also expressed directly to the IPC when he met with them last week.
“From the very start of the Southwest Renewable Energy roll out, we have found the connection between proponents and government agencies within the broader Riverina community totally unsatisfactory and unacceptable,” the transcript of his presentation reads.
“It is very difficult to expect the wider community to understand the impacts the developments will have on their landscape and the covert costs to them associated with accommodating such large projects in our region.
“We have found that the process has lacked the necessary transparency and scrutiny that would normally be required of such projects of this scale.
“The poorly attended drop-in sessions as a form of community engagement provide testament to the inadequacy of community consultation and transparency in this space.”
Mr Sleigh said concerns and questions still remain in relation to a number of issues associated with renewable projects, and not just the Dinawan Solar Farm proposal.
There are four grants right of access in the South West Renewable Energy Zone - the Spark Renewables Dinawan Energy Hub near Jerilderie (wind, solar and battery), Someva’s Pottinger Energy Park (wind and battery), the Bullawah Wind Farm project proposed by BayWa r.e. which are both located between Deniliquin and Hay and the Yanco Delta Wind and Energy Storage Project near Jerilderie.
He said the main issues relate to impact on infrastructure (including roads), environmental impacts, telecommunications and connectivity, and the impact on resources and services in nearby communities.
“Our incorporated group of family farming businesses are to be the near neighbours of both the Yanco Delta Wind, the Spark Dinawan Wind and Solar Projects which combined account for 70 per cent of renewable energy infrastructure in the SWREZ,” Mr Sleigh told the REZ.
“We are also to host several transmission lines on our properties to facilitate the transmission of renewable energy and are near neighbours to the Dinawan substation.
“We will soon be neighbouring the Spark, Origin and VNI West accommodation camps with a combined population of around 1800 people.
“Our current community population is approximately 40 people over a large area, with the road and infrastructure to adequately match that population density and no more.
“We may be small in number, but we feel we represent a larger community base who are either unaware or ill-informed of the pending developments.
“We stand firm that our concerns be acknowledged, considered and that we are always treated with respect, in particular reference to the negotiation of near neighbour agreements.”
Mr Sleigh said forward planning and investment by federal and state governments in preparation for the developments has been overlooked, and said the NSW Planning guidelines don’t go far enough in protecting and supporting near neighbours.
“They are too one sided in the developers’ favour and, at times, been used to minimise their commitment to a negotiated agreement and or benefit sharing arrangement,” Mr Sleigh told the IPC.
“We could be excused for believing there are two sets of regulatory requirements, one for renewable energy developments and one for other similar large-scale developments.
“The Bundure District Landholder Group are increasingly concerned with the total lack of planning and coordination of the developments.
“The Bundure District Landholder Group remain committed to ensuring the impacts of the energy transition in our landscape can provide us with a positive legacy.
“At this point in time, the Dinawan Solar Project is only providing us with increased costs to our businesses, disruption to our environment/biodiversity, our unique landscape and our way of life.”