Tallawang Solar Farm

I am objecting to this proposal because it is causing an unacceptable visual impact to the neighbouring properties. The lay of the land is such that the family along Castlereagh highway, Old Mill road, Shepherds Lane and Black Lead lane are on elevated land, overlooking the proposed solar works site.


Noise impact during construction to the surrounding family homes is not adequately addressed.
Noise impact caused by turning panels to the surrounding homes is not known and is not acceptable

Destruction of the historical nature of the town. The visual impact on the historic town of Gulgong is unacceptable.

Permanent loss of good sheep grazing land.

Increased fire risk 4 - 7km from Gulgong town

Reduction of property values. Distress and mental health impact on surrounding property owners

To: Department of Planning and Environment

20 November 2022

Online lodgement by major projects planning portal

From: name not to be published

Dear Planning

Subject: SSD-23700028: Tallawang Solar Farm



I object to the Tallawang Solar Electricity Generating Works proposal because of the hundreds of square kilometers of productive farm land lost along with the associated impact on food production, loss of export potential and risk to food security.



Yours sincerely



A concerned Australian citizen

This project is not in the public interest. It is in the interest of the developer alone, simply as a result of Government subsidies. With no Government subsidies we would not be faced with this onslaught of foreign developers destroying our environment.

Importing solar panels from China (built via slave labour), using metals from the Congo (using slave labour), building endless transmission infrastructure, building endless batteries (massive increase in lithium mining) will cause irreversible environmental damage. Without subsidies this project would not exist.

Cleaner reliable energy generation will not be the result of this project. The result of this project will be destruction of the environment, agricultural lands, increased land fill (where and how are solar panels disposed?), increased land clearing, increased extinctions and total destruction of regional communities. This developer will sell this project to a waiting queue of companies wanting to greenwash their profits.

7 ongoing jobs during operation are likely in distant offices. There is no benefit to the local community. The cumulative impact of dozens of "energy" projects in the area will lead to the destruction of the community, both environmentally and socially.

This project is not in the public interest

I fully support the Tallawang Solar Farm Development. The Project contributes to the achievement of both State and Federal renewable energy commitments.

Please refer to the attached

I wish to object to the Tallawang Solar Farm for the following reasons:
Property values of surrounding properties will be significantly reduced.
Fertile, productive farmland taken away, resulting in a loss of much needed agricultural produce as well as loss of income for many farming families.
Bio Security concerns to remaining agricultural farms from Solar Farm and Wind Farm transiting workforce, on and off different properties.
Road and highway damage from increased traffic during construction phase. Local council is barely able to maintain roads as it is.
No increase in local employment as Solar Farm workforce is temporary, and moves on to next area after project is completed.
Further reduction in local employment as local farming families are forced to move due to smaller land areas to work and negative restrictions placed on existing agricultural farms near Solar Farms.
Batteries and panels from solar farms have a limited life and once their usage is finished, create a very real problem with their disposal.
Both Solar and Wind Farms are visually destructive, thus having a negative impact on the strong tourism industry in this area.
Finally, ask yourself..Would you want to live next to one ?

I would like to make a submission to the RES Tallawang Solar Project SSD-23700028.

I object to this planned industrial solar project.

The size of the project at an estimated 1,137,000 solar panels covering 1370 ha (13.7km2) is a massive size for the area. Residents of the area are already subject to being within sight of the proposed wind turbine project Barneys Reef (also RES) and is in close proximity to the approved Beryl Solar (Banpu) and the proposed Bellambi Heights Solar (Vena). I believe that the cumulative effect on residents will be detrimental to those resident’s well-being and their enjoyment of their homes and properties and potentially impact the operation of their farming businesses.

My other concerns are:

There will be major inconveniences to residents during the lengthy construction process. The increased traffic will negatively impact residents and local road users, increasing travel times to locals and travellers. The construction noise is also a major concern to residents near to the site – construction traffic will dramatically increase with Section 4 of Appendix 9 of the EIS state that daily traffic will be approximately 740 to 870 movements per day over the 34 months of construction – including light vehicles and heavy vehicles. This is a massive increase, particularly on the local roads.

The estimated workforce of 580 will potentially stretch the local community’s access to rental accommodation, particularly with the cumulative effect of numerous wind/solar projects occurring nearby. Located near to the historic town of Gulgong and the popular tourist destination of Mudgee where tourist accommodation is already limited, an influx of construction workers will decimate the limited availability of rentals. Tourism is recognised locally as significant portion of the area’s income and any loss in this area will be felt throughout the community.

Solar panels are NOT environmentally friendly – made with a toxic mix of gallium arsenide, tellurium, silver, crystalline silicon, lead, cadmium, and heavy earth materials. Solar panels deteriorate, resulting in lost efficiency, total failure or even fire. They get damaged by hail, wind and fire and potentially leach their toxic chemicals into the soil and water courses. Tallawang Solar site could potentially contaminate Tallawang Creek and Wialdra Creek via run off, which could potentially be poisoned by these toxic chemicals. Major damage does happen – such as with the Beryl Solar plant in 2020 with impacts from heavy rain, a lightning strike, inverter damage and other failures. The contamination risks to the land and through the water courses will not be tolerated by the local community.

PV solar systems are also prone to fires from panel and electrical equipment failures causing risk to nearby farms, native bush and the community, as accessing the fires on/near a solar site is difficult and limited for safety reasons. Gunnedah Rural Fire Service has confirmed that firefighters can only fight fires in a solar plant from the perimeter due to dangerous high voltages and the possibility of toxic gases. In August 2022 a small grass fire near Beryl solar plant required a dozen emergency vehicles and three water-bombing helicopters to protect the solar plant and nearby farm. A small fire of this size could potentially be put out by easily and quickly by minimal fire crew, yet this small fire took four hours and multiple crew to bring the situation under control.

The current proposal also includes a BESS. Batteries use lead, lithium and cobalt, all of which are hazardous materials. This is of much concern to residents and the community as ordinary fire suppression measures cannot extinguish a Lithium chemical reaction fire. A fire that occurred in the 350MW/450MWh BESS during testing on 30 July 2021 in Geelong, Victoria shows how dangerous it can be for nearby residents. When one of the 13 tonne battery packs caught fire, it burned for three days and resulted in the evacuation of residents because of the toxic fumes generated.

Huge solar plants are not visually appealing and will impact near and not-so-near neighbours. As well as potentially impacting the value of neighbouring properties, the natural beauty of this district is very popular with travellers and visitors. Placing solar panels over 137km2 of scenic farmland will likely deter tourists visiting as the once productive farming land will be a reflective sea of solar panels.

Apart from removing land from productive farming for up to 35 years there is the likely long-term damage to the soil. The long term impact to the soil (from compaction and potentially leaching of toxic chemicals into the soil) could ruin its ability to be productive farmland in the future. The EIS states “Decommissioning would involve removing all above ground project infrastructure and returning the development footprint to its pre-existing land use…” Considering the solar panel frame supports will be placed to some depth in the ground, as well as underground cabling it is only reasonable to ask if the below ground infrastructure will be removed, otherwise it will interfere with deep rooted plants, trees and some farming practices.

I urge DPE to listen to those most heavily impacted by this project and to consider the cumulative impact on the district by multiple developments. This project, by a foreign owned profit-making entity should be rejected.


Annette Piper

Files attached

As a landlord and ex-local who visits my Gulgong community regulalry I do not believe the placement of this particular solar farm is of benefit to the community. I am all for renewables in the right place and I feel this positioning is detrimental to the surrounding township. I see issues with the set up and feel solar farms need to be on poorer land not good farming land. There are too many solar farm holdings springing up which is going to be a complete eyesore when they are all installed and up and running.

I object to this project because it is on prime agricultural land in a mixed farming area. The property is large enough to be a viable rural entity which supports local businesses and provides employment for stock and station agents, grain & fertiliser suppliers and other local businesses on a long term basis. This project will have minimal local benefits in the longer term and may force some local business to be unviable. It will make a minimal difference to reducing CO2 emissions by 2050 because it will not provide reliable power when the sun does not shine or the wind does not blow. It is not supported by a reliable power source and is too far from the end users. The notion that solar panels last for 35 years is a nonsense. Experts today claim only 25 years. There is no recycling plan for the panels and it is likely they will be dumped into land fill leaching toxic chemicals into the soil and poisoning underground water.

Good agricultural land is being wasted for this project which will be a fire threat to my town of Gulgong. Also as Gulgong depends for viability on its tourist trade the unsightly solar tracts surrounding the town will be a disincentive. The current solar farm at Beryl has not fulfilled its promise of green screening or distance from local roads so there is no reason to believe this new project will fulfill its obligations once it gets the green light. I strongly object to this project.

As a landowner adjacent to this project I strongly oppose the development of this solar farm in this area.
For many, many people living adjacent to and surrounding these monstrous projects, land values will be significantly reduced.
This is prime agricultural land, why reduce the amount of productive agricultural land that can provide food and fiber for the country. Surely, placing these enormous projects on poorer quality country that isn't able to be farmed and provide a living for people makes more sense.
The visual aspect of these projects completely destroys the beauty of the area for miles. The people that live here do so because they love the land as it looks now.
The local employment benefits that the companies developing these projects promote, are much less than advertised. Once the project is completed the itinerant workforce moves on, no job opportunities for locals, just reduced income and land values for the farming families affected.
While these solar farms are promoted as "Green" , what happens to the millions of batteries and panels when they are no longer viable ? They have to go somewhere, landfill ?
We have had significant bush fires in the area in past years, these solar farms pose a dangerous risk from toxic fumes to those trying to contain fires, as well as soil contamination from burnt panel and battery residue.
Road use and traffic during construction of this and the many other proposed projects in this area will increase at a huge rate. Our council already struggles to maintain the roads in the area.
The threat of changes to lifestyle, farm management practices, livelihoods and future uncertainty is causing emotional stress to hard working rural people who do not deserve or need it.
I strongly object to the construction of this solar farm.

Carol Wilton

I object to the Tallawang solar farm for the following reasons:
I live on the road that runs past the proposed site. Although the proposal includes vegetation screening, this has NOT been followed through with the Beryl Solar Farm which was built on a nearby road. Vegetation screening in our climate requires dedicated watering and follow-up which was not done. There has been no enforcement of this with the Beryl Solar Farm, so no reason to believe vegetation screening for the Tallawang solar farm is anything but a soft sell.
The bushfire risk in the area is significant. Local RFS crews cannot go into a solar farm. Again, the Beryl Solar farm had a fire along its front within the last 2 months. Fortunately crews stopped it from entering the farm itself. Otherwise a 200 metre fire front going in one side, turns into a 2 kilometre fire front going out the other side - which is then unstoppable. This is too great a risk on the western side of Gulgong (since the hot summer westerlies mean the most dangerous fires are to the west of the town). If a fire escaped into the Tallawang solar farm this would threaten the entire town.
There is virtually no economic benefit to our town. The small number of workers during the construction phase merely block accommodation for the much more lucrative trade of tourism. Indeed tourists to our beautiful small town (Gulgong) and surrounding lush, rolling green hills, will not be benefitted by swathes of solar panels. The nearby example is Wellington, NSW which has turned a similarly pastoral outlook into an ugly industrial site that has drowned the town.
The Tallawang solar farm proposal does not conform to the 200 metre setback from local roads required by Mid Western Regional Council. As such it has not engaged with and built community support - in fact has come up with a proposal that flies in the face of the local community's requests to make solar farms in the area more palatable to those who have to drive past every day.
The proposed site at Tallawang - according to the developer's own proposal - "has an elevated grassed hilltop which is prominent and visible from some viewpoints up to 10km away". This makes it a completely inappropriate location for a sea of solar panels - creating visual pollution and annoyance and detracting from the landscape for many, many kilometres' radius. In the dense lifestyle blocks of the area around the town of Gulgong this means many landholders will be negatively impacted - negatively affecting visual outlook and property prices.
I have no objection to solar in theory, and am a strong supporter of renewables, but this particular solar farm should not go ahead.

I don't support an wind or solar farms if it was about saving the environment there would be more subsidies to have people off the grid.
Stop ruining farm land.