Blind Creek Solar Farm

Denrith Pty Ltd support the Blind Creek Solar Farms proposed project. Please see attached Letter of Support for further detail.

Lake Road regional Land Care Opportunities

Blind Creek Solar Farm Proposal
NSW Department of Planning and Environment: - Application Number: SSD - 13166280

Submission by David Liversidge with an interest in land management at the Northern end of Lake Road 6 km NW of the proposed development site.

There follows a short summary of the perceived benefits and costs of establishing a solar farm on the eastern shore of Lake George as set out in NSW DPE application number – SSD 13166280.

Benefits:

1. Use of PV infrastructure (through increased row spacing) to improve grazing productivity);
2. Improved stock welfare management offered to the grazing sheep (approaching horizontal PV panels) offer shading to stock in summer and rain / hail protection at all times of the year;
3. Wider than normal spacing of the racks of PV panels results in likely improvements in grass root development, over time, and in improved soil carbon sequestration;
4. Battery storage (short term) offers regional peak electricity demand management benefits using differing strategies for late afternoon and early morning electricity demand peaks; and
5. The photo-voltaic panels themselves provide ongoing regional electricity supply benefits.


Costs:

a. Once construction is complete glare studies suggest a black line (racks of solar panels) visible to neighbours on Lake Road and Forest Road (West side of Lake George) which does not exist at the present time;
b. Increased traffic movement into and around the project area during construction;
c. An ongoing increase in economic activity in Bungendore and region which has already experienced recent historically rapid growth at levels not previously witnessed; and
d. Though the siting of the project has been moved away from the immediate proximity of Lake George, aboriginal artifacts and other significant cultural heritage may be impacted in ways not clearly understood at the present time.

Discussion:

From the perspective of land care management, this project offers likely stock management (sheep) opportunities to increase both the productivity of the stock and of the land itself.

This is still to be demonstrated in the context of local land management but other studies suggest that there is the potential for improved livestock growth and productivity benefits. Similarly, the increased fertilisation and a net improvement in available growth conditions, of the land, will result in improved grass growth and improvements in grass root formation. This in turn can be expected to improve soil carbon sequestration offering wider global as well as local benefits.

Battery storage (2-4 hours), now part of the proposal, will afford the opportunity for improved demand management (5pm to 7pm) and again, using off-peak surplus wind generation, (7am to 9am). This feature will offer local, State, and national electricity grid benefits.

We have been assured that high intensity security night time lighting will not be generally used on this project.

However, Lake Road residents on the western side of the Lake will see a thin black line of solar panels which does not exist at the present time. This line will be slightly more obvious for Forest Road residents at the top of the escarpment on the western side of Lake George.

Once construction is completed additional traffic movements should be very limited and the additional economic impact too should be minor when compared with the recent rapid housing development in the Bungendore area.

In Summary:
This proposal offers net benefits to local, regional and national systems of land management, environment and the improvement of electricity supply. These benefits are considerable while costs associated with the proposal are more easily managed and they seem to have been addressed sufficiently.

David Liversidge
24 June 2022

TADPAI objects only to the Traffic Impact Assessment = please see attached

I have been living in Bungendore, doing a work contract in Canberra and became aware of the project through the local media. It looks like an amazing project and it seems like something that would be invaluable to the community both on a local scale with job production and on a larger scale for energy security. I care deeply about humanity's future on this planet, as we all should, and we need projects like this to ensure that future and protect our environment.

We strongly support this project.

Dear Mr Nixey

I would like to make a submission in support of the Blind Creek Solar Farm situated on Currandooley Rd Bungendore NSW.

I wholly support the project as a source of renewable energy supply, urgently needed in the current situation of climate change and need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

In further support I note that the project is to be run using regenerative agricultural grazing practices which will also help to remediate the effects of climate change both through creating increased storage of carbon in the soil and increased ground cover.

I am emailing you directly as I have been unable to to make a submission through the Planning NSW Portal. I have tried numerous times and have as well spoken to staff on the Department help line who were unable to solve the problem.