Corangamite Shire outlays $120K over VCAT decision on Bookaar solar farm
A decision on what is set to be Australia’s largest solar farm is imminent after a 10-day hearing that has lumped ratepayers with a six-figure bill.
A RURAL Victorian council has been forced to spend more than $100,000 fighting a proposed solar farm.
Corangamite Shire in southwest Victoria spent $120,000 in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to oppose the $150 million solar farm near Camperdown.
The figure represents a major portion of the council’s capital works budget, being the equivalent of three-quarters of a bridge project.
VCAT is soon to decide the fate of the Bookaar Solar Farm, a joint project of Infinergy Pacific and landowners, former Corangamite MP Stewart McArthur and family.
The shire received 81 objections to the project before councillors rejected the proposal in September.
Corangamite Shire mayor Neil Trotter said while VCAT was expensive, the court route would have been even more costly for the council.
“The cost has been $120,000 at a minimum. That figure doesn’t include the time spent by councillor officers,” Cr Trotter said.
“Now with the guidelines out, that money will be saved by other councils in the future.
Bookaar farmer Andrew Duynhoven, one of several opposed to the 554ha solar farm, said there was a “50-50 likelihood VCAT would either block or allow the project.
He praised the council, but said farmer opposition had been disregarded by both sides of Spring St.
“The majority of farmers in our area don’t want this solar farm yet the Government wants it to meet their renewable targets and the Opposition is silent because (Polwarth MP) Richard Riordan is friends with the McArthur family,” he said.
Mr Riordan said his personal links played no part in his view of the solar project, adding the guidelines were a “good document to have”.
EDITORIAL: CITY THE COUNCIL CASH COW
“There’s a distinction to be made between the three solar farms in the Shepparton area which are located in an irrigation region and Bookaar,” the Liberal MP said.
“My interpretation of the guidelines is that they are neither strongly for or against the Bookaar proposal.”
‘No one knew it was coming’: Tongala cow abattoir shuts
The livestock industry and local community have reacted to Greenham’s closure of its Tongala cow processing plant.
Victorians want to feel guilt-free about eating meat
Research – to guide a Victorian Government-funded pro-agriculture campaign – has revealed how consumers feel about the state’s farmers and what issues need to be addressed.