Gympie Deputy Mayor Hilary Smerdon’s Woolooga farm sold to solar developer

A property belonging to Gympie Deputy Mayor Hilary Smerdon is one of five west of Gympie that have been bought up to make way for a $130 million solar farm

Gympie deputy mayor Hilary Smerdon’s Woolooga farm has been bought by a soalr farm developer for $1.84 million as part of a series of land purchases to allow constructon of a $130 million project approved by the council’s planning department in 2019.

Deputy Mayor Hilary Smerdon’s 110ha cattle property has sold to a private solar farm developer for $1.84 million as part of a series of land purchases ahead of construction of the 210-megawatt Woolooga solar farm.

Mr Smerdon’s property was one of at least five near Woolooga and Lower Wonga bought by Lightsource Australia SPV 3 since September 2020.

The company spent more than $9.6 million in total on the properties, which sit along the Wide Bay Highway, CoreLogic RP Data records reveal.

One of the blocks was sold for $2.75 million.

The project, which some reports estimate to be worth $130 million, was approved by the council’s planning department under delegation in December 2019.

Mr Smerdon said councillors were not involved in any decision making about the project.

“It did not come to the council at all,” he said.

The 210-megawatt solar farm was approved without input from councillors.

Selling the property he owned since 2007 did not mean he was leaving the area. Mr Smerdon bought another 108ha farm at Woolooga in December 2020.

“To be honest, I probably would have preferred to stay where I am but when someone offers you reasonable money for a property you’ve got to grab at it,” he said.

“I think (the solar farm) will be good for the area, especially during construction.

“There’s going to be quite a few jobs created; there’s also 10 full-time jobs once it is up and running.

“It is the new wave for energy … and it has to go somewhere.

“Everyone told me when I bought that property (it’s got three towers with electrical lines running through it) ‘you’ll never sell that’.

“I wasn’t really worried about it at the time.”

Lightsource’s web page for the Woolooga solar farm says construction is expected to begin by the middle of this year.

The company holds three separate approved applications for the project, which will be built on two sites.