Bookaar Solar Farm Battle Rages On

A developer is taking yet another crack at getting approval for solar farm near a town in Victoria, but the local council still isn’t on board.

Bookaar Renewables has been attempting to get the green light for construction of Bookaar Solar Farm since 2018. The proposed development is a 200 MW PV + battery storage facility to be sited approximately 8 kilometres north of the township of Camperdown in southwest Victoria.

In 2018, Corangamite Shire Council unanimously rejected the proposal, citing concerns including all the usual suspects such as fire risk, glare, visual impact and loss of agricultural land. 86 submissions were received in relation to the application, with 81 opposing.

The Bookaar Solar Farm application then went before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) on appeal in August 2019, which upheld Council’s decision.

But Bookaar Renewables wasn’t done yet.

Subsequent new planning guidelines for large-scale solar farms in Victoria saw the state’s Minister for Planning becoming the responsible authority for all development applications.

Bookaar Renewables decided to give things another red-hot go and at the end of last year submitted a fresh development application to the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP), with some changes that are summarised here.

If approved soon, construction of Bookaar Solar Farm – which will take around 12 months – will start this year. The cover letter for the new application notes a project cost of $280 million and requests the “fast-tracking” of a decision by the Minister.

Corangamite Shire Council Continues Opposition

Corangamite Shire Council still isn’t happy with the revised application.

A draft submission to the Minister for Planning discussed at Tuesday’s meeting notes renewable energy development “is not a strategic priority” for Corangamite Shire. Something that is among its priorities is “to support the continued operation of gas and future investigation into new blue/green hydrogen opportunities”.

• blue hydrogen = hydrogen produced using natural gas, with related CO2 emissions generated during its production captured and stored.
• green hydrogen = produced by splitting water by electrolysis, powered by renewables.

Other concerns such as removing productive farming land from agricultural use and potential impacts on adjoining landholders remain.

The draft submission also takes aim at a common gripe associated with contentious solar farm projects – a perceived lack of community engagement. The related agenda item claims:

“The applicant has not held any planned or targeted community engagement and has instead sought to rely on the consultation undertaken for the original application, which was Council directed and facilitated.”

Another thorny point is the proposed financial contribution through a community benefits fund. The amount of $20,000 per annum is considered  to be insufficient given the scale and impact of the proposal and it won’t result in a net community benefit that is proportionate to its investment and future income.

It appears the draft submission was approved by Council at Tuesday’s meeting, with several Councillors needing to leave chambers prior to the vote, citing conflict of interest.

With all the complexities and conflicts of interest surrounding this project, it looks like the Minister for Planning has quite a task ahead in sorting through it all and arriving at a decision.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/bookaar-solar-farm-mb1976/