For Graeme and Emma Brown, 2018 was going to be a time of exciting change for their family.
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The couple are building a house on Tudgey Road to share with their two children Darby and Maggie, with hopes to move in before Christmas.
But now the Browns’ anticipation is marred by uncertainty as Photon Energy proposes a solar farm, which will stretch across the view they fell in love with when they bought the property.
“We’re 20 metres above the solar farm. We planned our house to have the aspect that looks down towards the site,” Mr Brown said.
“Whatever they do, it’s just in the wrong position.
“You can’t hide 480,000 panels."
Photon Energy is proposing to establish a 300-hectare solar farm on a 692-hectare site on Orange Grove Road, which is parallel to Tudgey Road. The 155-megawatt project would be established on farm land leased from a local handholder, and is a natural floodplain.
The Browns were among a number of residents who had one-on-one meetings with Photon Energy last week and were given photographs of their specific outlook with a projected image of a solar farm superimposed on it.
“Residents once again raised their concerns regarding site layout, visual impacts and flooding effects,” Gunnedah solar farm manager Nick Guzowski said on behalf of Photon Energy.
“Photon has taken their feedback on board and have made amendments to the site. A flood study and photomontages have been utilised to assess the effects of flooding and visual impacts on the proposed solar farm.”
A Photon Energy spokesperson said the footprint has been recently revised to “minimise the impact of flooding and accommodate the tracking panels”.
The Browns said the revision means the proposed area is now closer to their property.
“We’re not opposed to solar, but we’re opposed to the position of it,” Mrs Brown said.
“We bought into a rural setting and we’d like it to stay that way.
“The aesthetics of it and the value of our property we believe will decrease because of the Photon property opposite.”
Meanwhile, Overland Sun Farming is also proposing a solar farm on Orange Grove Road and held community consultation meetings in Gunnedah on Thursday and Friday.
The meetings attracted many local residents who had the chance to ask questions and express any concerns about the proposed 110-megawatt solar farm.
Main issues raised by residents were the potential impact of flooding, traffic measures and the impact on visual outlook.
Flooding was a hot topic in the room, with many older residents bringing along old photos of historic floods, including John Sutherland who has lived on Orange Grove Road since 1984.
Mr Sutherland said the position of Overland’s site would get flooded if the Namoi River reached nine metres, while Photon’s site would get flooded if the river reached about seven metres.
Overland’s land and development manager Sten Fraser said “the most common theme discussed to date concerns historical flooding in the Orange Grove area”.
“Numerous sites were considered as part of Overland’s site selection process. Due to flooding in the district, identifying land that was understood to be less impacted during major flood events became paramount,” Mr Fraser said.
“Overland understands the significance of minimising impact to the natural flow of water across the land… and is undertaking studies using engineering experts to aid the development of the final design of the Sun Farm.”
Chris Mammen lives on Orange Grove Road and said he and fellow parents had concerns about the safety of their children getting on and off the school bus if either of the solar farm proposals goes ahead.
Overland said traffic movements, including school bus schedules, would be managed under the traffic management plan for the solar farm, and Photon said it will “work with contractors and endeavour to minimise truck access to the site during school pick-up and drop-off hours”.
While they have issues with Photon’s Energy’s proposal, the Browns are “very supportive” of Overland’s proposal because they believe it would impact less people.
“[Overland] is willing to get that little bit less power [from the TransGrid] to accommodate the residents,” Mrs Brown said.
“They’re not going to plonk it where it benefits them the most.”
Photon Energy is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement to submit to the Department of Planning and Environment in April.
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