Planned ‘community battery’ infrastructure sparks angry response from residents, councils

A renewable energy push has backfired in two Teal Sydney electorates with fears the proposed infrastructure would tear up green space - sparking a Nationals senator to slam the “hypocrisy”.

A photo showing what the community batteries could look like.

Plans to build new climate friendly community batteries in two Sydney ‘teal’ electorates have backfired after plans were revealed to tear up green space and build the structures within two popular parks.

Angry residents have questioned the “environmental credibility” of an Ausgrid proposal to install new pieces of renewable energy infrastructure in Green Park in Cammeray and Thomas Hogan Reserve in Bondi.

The community batteries are just two of the 400 batteries the Labor Government had pledged to build as part of a $200m pre-election promise last year.

The batteries – capable of soaking up surplus solar energy goodness during the day for release at night – measure about the size of a shipping container and will allow more household solar to be accommodated on the local network.

Ausgrid – which applied for the federal grant to build the batteries – stated locations have been chosen based on factors including “safety and accessibility”.

The batteries are designed to support the uptake of household solar.

But the Cammeray proposal has been met with stiff resistance from locals along with North Sydney Council which has called for Ausgrid to abandon the proposal and instead build the battery on private land.

Concerns have also been raised in the Waverley Council area after Ausgrid announced plans to chop down an established tree to place a battery in Thomas Hogan Reserve in Bondi.

A photo of what the battery could look like.

Paul Walter – who chairs a Cammeray community group – believes placing the battery in a park was incongruous with the environmental outcomes the project was trying to achieve.

“This would be the worst type of proliferation of infrastructure in our green space. Frankly it’s a terrible idea,” he said.

“It’s like the virtuous environmental outcomes that the battery implies is giving them a green stamp to essentially put the infrastructure anywhere it wants.

“I’m all for green infrastructure but the placement of it needs to be thought about properly.”

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Labor’s candidate at the last Federal election Catherine Renshaw during the announcement of the battery in 2022.

Waverley Council – in a draft submission to Ausgrid – stated the battery in Bondi “would negatively impact this location in terms of aesthetics and occupying a level play area”.

“There would also be noise impacts from the proposal as similar sized batteries emit a noise similar in volume to a conversation or, at the louder end, a vacuum cleaner,” the submission stated.

However, Nationals senator Matt Canavan had little sympathy for those fighting against the batteries, both located in federal electorates won by teal independents Kylea Tink and Allegra Spender at the last election.

“It is just too bad we can’t fund the rich, consumer goods heavy lifestyles of inner city greenies with hypocrisy, because there is an endless supply of it,” he said.

North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker.

“If they can’t cop a battery in a park in their suburbs, why the hell should people in the bush have to cop a wind turbine destroying the pristine wilderness of a rural hilltop?”

“The bush is sick of being used as a dumping ground for the moral guilt of urban elites.

Ms Tink was unavailable for comment on Monday but in a social media post earlier this month wrote: “I’m so pleased that Cammeray is getting a community battery”. In the same post, Ms Tink noted “many people have reached out with concerns regarding the location”.

A photo showing the location of the proposed battery in Cammeray.

Another battery is planned at Thomas Hogan Reserve, Bondi.

Ausgrid confirmed the batteries would measure about 2m tall, 4m long and 2m wide.

The battery in Cammeray would support solar input from about 150 homes in the area and is proposed to be wrapped with First Nations artwork that Ausgrid stated would “reflect the rich heritage of the area”.

In a statement, an Ausgrid spokeswoman said the company was still seeking feedback about the final location of the batteries.

“This feedback will be used to inform further planning and we will continue to assess this and alternative locations,” she said.

North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker has written to Ausgrid along with Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen “urging” the energy infrastructure to be located elsewhere.

“The community battery is something embraced by the council and the community but it can’t be a zero sum game,” she said.