UNDER the dark of night with a nearly full moon in the sky, council blocked out the sun.
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Well, not quite.
But a well-conceived idea to harvest electricity from the sun for a dozen prominent council-owned facilities had the handbrakes applied ever so lightly, but the inertia was poignant.
Russell Webb largely backed the move to run council facilities off solar power, but he also sparked the push to keep the technology away from AELEC.
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Cr Webb proffered the caveat that he was a proponent of solar on his personal property, but the councillor has also previously suggested Boggabri would be a great location for a new coal-fired power plant.
Cr Webb’s initial arguments centred on the maintaining the unique aesthetic nature of the equine centre, which is an undoubted draw-card for events and investment in Tamworth.
Concerns were also raised about the structural suitability of AELEC and the amount of time it would take council to reclaim its investment through power savings.
Almost every councillor spoke about the importance of maintaining AELEC’s frontage, but the value and character which could come with powering a landmark facility by the sun went unvoiced.
Council will investigate the possibility and ability to hook the centre up to the sun, but there was an opportunity missed to cement Tamworth Regional Council’s sustainable reputation.
A strong statement could have been made by hoisting a figurative flag on AELEC and further the great strides which have already been made in the region.
Perhaps there was something more to be gained from switching the power sources at AELEC which could have outweighed the supposed aesthetic loss.
Perhaps there’s a bit more than to life than hinging everything on how much money can be extracted from a situation, event or venue.
In the current climate, Tamworth is particularly rich in sunshine, and with one in six homes harnessing solar presently, it can’t be all bad.