OPPOSITION to the proposed Meadow Creek Solar Farm continues to grow as around 200 people rallied in a final push to lodge their objection before the project’s deadline.
Meadow Creek Agricultural Community Action Group members and its supporters showed strong unity in Oxley on May 22 as they look to halt the development of a proposed 566-hectare solar facility on agricultural land.
Local and state government representatives Rural City of Wangaratta mayor Cr Irene Grant, deputy mayor Cr Harvey Benton, Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy and Northern Victoria MP Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell all spoke at the rally and echoed the community’s resentment of the project.
Mr McCurdy said the support from the community for Meadow Creek was fantastic to be a part of.
“This is not the right place for a solar factory, and the proponents have not won over the support of neighbours, the community, or the council,” he said.
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“Instead of Labor taking away our right to farm, they should step outside of the tram tracks and support our farmers and the regions.”
A convoy of around 100 vehicles covered in protest signs and spray paint led by Richie Callaway and his Clydesdale Sheena then descended on the location of the proposed development before finishing at the Bobinawarrah Hall.
Group member and nearby landowner Jess Conroy said plenty of new faces were seen at the rally, most of them nearby Oxley residents who raised concerns around the proposition of around 100 trucks passing through the township in the proposed peak periods of solar farm construction.
“It was double the crowd of a previous meeting we held early last year; it was really positive” she said.
“We feel like we’re playing an unfair battle at the moment, it feels like we have five players on the footy field and the government have 20.
“I tell my kids if we were playing a fair game of footy we would win, but we’re not.”
The project’s fate will ultimately be decided by state government minister for planning Sonya Kilkenny after the objection period closes on 10 June.
More than 420 objections have been lodged on the basis of multiple factors including the occupation of prime agricultural land, a failure in community consultation, water contamination risks and the removal of the right to appeal via VCAT.
Ms Conroy said a further cause of frustration has been the continued refusal of Ms Kilkenny to visit the site of the proposed development.
“They had a chance to answer a lot of the concerns that the community have raised around the roads, the loss of strategic agricultural lands, how they’re going to mitigate the risk if there’s a further run off… but they’ve pretty much ignored us,” she said.
Cr Grant said council had contacted Ms Kilkenny’s office for the minister to see the site and the importance of agriculture to the municipality on two occasions, but had only received a confirmation of receipt in reply.
“We’ve supported our community, and we understand why they’re so concerned, she said.
“This doesn’t meet the requirements of the Rural City of Wangaratta and we’re concerned without the opportunity to object, we have no right of reply.
“It speaks to what our planning scheme actually says and this is an inappropriate development.”
Ms Conroy said the group will meet with Goulburn Murray Water on 30 May to discuss the risk mitigation of potential thermal water run-offs from the proposed solar farm.
“In the 800 pages of the application the proponents have put on the ministerial website, never once have they mentioned it’s in a declared special water catchment zone, which is huge,” she said.
While unable to attend the rally, Independent MP Helen Haines was represented by chief of staff Sally Whyte.
Dr Haines said the situation with the proposed Meadow Creek Solar Farm highlighted inconsistencies and problems with planning and community engagement for such projects in the state.
“I have written to the Meadow Creek Solar Farm proponents to express my continued disappointment with the lack of meaningful community engagement regarding the project and to request that they meet with locals to discuss their concerns,” she said.
“I last met with representatives of Meadow Creek Solar Farm and Ubris in August 2024 and I’m concerned that a face-to-face meeting, at or near Bobinawarrah, has not occurred since then.”
State government agency VicGrid released the outlook of Victoria’s renewable future drafting seven proposed renewable energy zones, none of which are in the North East.
Dr Haines said she had written to Victorian ministers Lily D’Ambrosio and Sonya Kilkenny, asking a number of questions to help locals gain better understanding of the proposed zones and how they may affect planning decisions for proposed renewable energy projects already in their communities.
The state government were contacted to clarify its renewable energy zones, but comment had not been received.
