Colbinabbin community members have been trying for months to put a stop to a planned proposed solar farm being built in the Heathcote wine region, and now they have the backing of their council.
Campaspe Shire Council has come out adamantly against the development of the Cooba Solar Project and has agreed to send a submission expressing what it sees as the issues and contradictions with Venn Energy’s planning application for the project.
The Cooba Solar Project involves the construction of a 606-hectare large solar and battery energy storage system on a 1147-hectare site at 124 Cornella Church Rd and Plain Rd.
The site was chosen by Venn Energy due to its proximity to an existing transmission line that runs underneath the property, allowing for easy connectivity to the grid, along with the site’s solar exposure and clearance of native vegetation.
On November 7, Venn Energy’s planning application for the project entered its public advertisement period.
At the December 10 council meeting, seven of the eight councillors present (John Zobec was absent) voted to endorse a lodgement of a formal submission to the Victorian planning minister opposing the solar facilities in their current location.
Council engaged an external party to review the planning application and found that what had been submitted to the planning minister was “contrary to a number of relevant considerations”.
Consultants said they believed Venn Energy did not engage in a soil survey to accurately portray soil types across the entire site, especially significant “niche soils” that contribute to the “unique wine grape production” in the Heathcote wine region.
They said Venn Energy “undervalued and downplayed” the value of agricultural qualities of the particular site and the visual impact assessment did not represent a “fulsome and accurate evaluation” of the impacts.
They also said the planning application did not provide clarity on the economic benefits to the community, nor the capital loss of losing that agricultural land.
Claire Tuohey, an owner of a winery in Colbinabbin, spoke to councillors at the December 10 meeting and said community members were “sickened” by Venn Energy’s handling of consultation.
“We’ve asked (Venn Energy) on numerous occasions to come and speak to the community and let them know … they haven’t held one community meeting and any contact they’ve had has been done individually,” she said.
She also discussed the worries community members shared about the possibility of a bushfire spreading to the solar facilities, and the lack of insurance members of the community would have to cover damages.
John Davies, a Colbinabbin Renewable Action Group member and landowner of property adjacent to the site, spoke to the Free Press and said he first met with representatives of Venn Energy two years ago after they had agreed to a lease with the landowner.
Since then, he said he had engaged with Venn Energy on two other occasions, all of which were “unproductive” in consultation.
He said Venn Energy had shown “zero flexibility” in addressing any concerns he had brought up on those occasions, including worries about the scale of the project, clarity of insurance clauses and the lack of a bushfire management plan.
Venn Energy has addressed community concerns about insurance policy on its website, stating if a fire were to break out on a neighbouring property, without negligence, and spread to the solar farm, the neighbour’s insurance would not be triggered.
In cases of a neighbour’s negligence in the situation of a fire, Venn Energy says the claim would never exceed the cover amount of the neighbour’s public liability policy.
Mr Davies said he was concerned that if a fire were to spread to the project and other surrounding properties, the entire amount of the negligent neighbour’s insurance would go to the project, leaving none for other damaged properties.
On its website, Venn Energy explained the lack of a bushfire risk report being included in the planning application and said it had had to prepare more detailed fire risk assessments to be in line with updated CFA polices.
Venn Energy said it was currently working with the CFA and fire risk consultants.
Cr Paul Jarman called Venn Energy’s planning application “unclear” and “deficient and undefined” when clear understanding needed to be given for this project to be accepted.
“We are a community that I don’t believe is against renewables, but they need to be in appropriate spots, and they need to be appropriately thought through for the impacts that they leave on the communities for generations to come,” Cr Jarman said.
Cr Zoe Cook, the single councillor who voted against the submission to the planning minister, said regional Victorians would feel the burn of inaction.
She referenced a 2022 Climate Council report that stated that by 2030 25 per cent of homes in the electorate of Nicholls would be uninsurable as the flood risk began to climb.
“The community literally cannot afford inaction ... we cannot lessen the impact of climate change without moving as quickly as possible away from the consumption of fossil fuels and towards renewables,” she said.
A Venn Energy representative said the company had no comment about the claims made by Campaspe Shire Council officers and the community members who spoke at the December 10 council meeting.