Solar farms in Loomberah and New England go on public exhibition

Last month, the Leader reported on Loomberah resident Liz Crowe preparing to fight "tooth and nail" against the proposed local Middlebrook Solar Farm, 22 kilometres south of Tamworth, which she said would "tank" her property value.

Now the 300-megawatt solar project has been placed on public exhibition, she says her family is slowly working through the "enormous" pile of documents in order to make a submission.

"Just the Environmental Impact Statement is 349 pages long, an incredible amount of paperwork for us to look at," Mrs Crowe said.

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Mrs Crowe said for small landholders like her, the fight against solar panels was like David vs Goliath.

"These guys have had three years to prepare this paperwork and have employed so many people to get this done, consultants, agencies - huge amounts of time and huge amounts of people to get this together - and 28 days is all we've got to put in a submission," she said.

Mrs Crowe also said she was especially disappointed with the company in charge of the project, French company Total Eren, for not engaging with the local community.

"They promised they'd get in touch with us once the project was put on exhibition and we didn't hear from them at all," she said.

The Loomberah landholder said she's been in touch with other groups with experience in land use conflicts and is hopeful she can band together with her neighbours to present a united front.

"I'm all for renewable energy, this is just the wrong spot for it ... put it way out west where there are no affected neighbours," Mrs Crowe said.

Total Eren did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, 30km east of Inverell, a comparable solar farm is progressing with little resistance.

The Sundown Solar Farm, a 360-megawatt project by Canadian Solar, is also on public exhibition.

The project is set to be built in the sparsely-populated Swan Vale area off the Gwydir Highway, and the company in charge says progress has been smooth.

"Feedback through consultation was largely positive with many local community members expressing their interest to get involved as service providers," a spokesperson for Canadian Solar said.

The company said locals did express concerns about road safety, noise, and dust during construction, but it is working to address these issues by sponsoring upgrades to council roads in the area.

The Canadian manufacturer said it was excited to begin construction next year.

"Following public exhibition and successful responses to submission, the project will receive its development consent. Project construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2024," the company's spokesperson said.

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