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Central Victorian residents are worried council approval of a solar farm in Castlemaine will set a precedent that could lead to a bioenergy facility being built nearby.
Key points:
- Six residents objected to the 27-hectare solar farm in Castlemaine
- The council has approved the planning permit by George Weston Foods
- The site is located in a farming zone
Mount Alexander Shire councillors voted to approve the application by George Weston Foods-owned subsidiary Don KR Smallgoods to install solar panels next to its Richards Road factory in Castlemaine, and remove native vegetation on land zoned for farming.
"I think this is a fantastic project for Don KR. I think that it really, really underpins the jobs," councillor Tony Cordy said at Tuesday's meeting.
"There is a huge number of jobs dependent on that facility."
"There is some native vegetation that is going to be lost with the installation of panels, but on balance, the project is very much an environmental project and it's a substantial investment by the company."
Anti-bioenergy plant group Castlemaine Residents Against Biomass (CRAB) is continuing its campaign to stop a proposed anaerobic digester and a thermal plant being built by Mount Alexander Bioenergy – an offshoot of the Mount Alexander Sustainability Group – in partnership with George Weston Foods, which runs the Don KR Smallgoods meat processor.
Fears over zoning precedent
New plans approved unanimously by the Mount Alexander Shire Council allow Don KR Smallgoods to build the 27-hectare, 3.5 megawatts solar farm that would have more than 9,000 solar panels on land zoned for farming.
It is a decision nearby residents and objectors fear creates a precedent for using the land zoned as farming for industrial-type use.
They fear it will make way for the bioenergy plant to receive local planning approval.
Nearby resident Lisa Pollard objected to the solar farm and said the meat processor should place the solar panels on what factory roof space it could.
She said chopping down established, native trees was not a green option.
"I'm very concerned that a precedent has been set by the council, that land zoned as farming can be used for the solar farm and connected to an industrial site," she said.
"No doubt, the reason why Don KR advised sheep can graze underneath the solar panels, allows the land use to still be considered farming."
A letter from a federal government department to Ms Pollard said the federal government had made Don KR aware of its obligations under conservation and environment laws.
Ms Pollard, who is also a CRAB member, wrote to Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek about her concern the solar farm would have the potential for remnants of box ironbark forest to be removed.
The letter from the department's head of environmental assessments and post approvals, Kim Farrant, states tough penalties apply for removing nationally significant environmental vegetation.
Turning waste into energy
The anaerobic digester can break down livestock waste, crops, sewage and food, and turn it into biogas and a digestant used for fertiliser.
The biogas becomes heat and electricity that can supply fuel for vehicles or natural gas for the gas network.
The biomass heat plant saps the energy from dry items such as wood.
It would mean the Don KR Smallgoods factory's waste such as pork and green waste would be turned into gas and electricity.
The Mount Alexander Sustainability Group (MASG) said it applauded the inclusion of a substantial solar farm by Don KR Smallgoods on its site.
"This is a major contribution to the facilities' and the shire's reduction in greenhouse gas emissions," Mount Alexander Bioenergy chair Michael Lewin said.
"There is no plan for the MAB bioenergy facility to be on anything but industrial-zoned land. This has been made clear at all of our consultations.
"Work is progressing with a number of possible anaerobic digester providers and we hope to have more to say in the new year."
The group's Deane Bellfield said the community was in favour of sustainable projects and that in terms of setting a precedent, there were "thousands of farms across Australia and the western world of solar plants being built on farming zones, indeed most are".
An anaerobic digester is operational in Jandakot in Western Australia and was the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere when it opened in 2018.
The CRAB group says it has enough interest in a class action lawsuit against the bioenergy plant's proposal.
Mount Alexander Shire mayor Rosie Annear said the council had received the letter on behalf of Ms Plibersek, but councillors were advised by the council's executive that they did not need to consider the legislation when making their decision to grant a planning permit.
Conditions of the permit mean Don KR Smallgoods needs to get environmental approval from the state Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and construct a fence to protect the native vegetation.