Protect the You Yangs Precinct

THE LATEST THREATS

BARWON SOLAR FARM

LITTLE RIVER RAILROADED AGAIN!

The proposed Barwon Solar Farm has reared it’s head again. It is just over 1800 acres, in the northern You Yangs foothills in grassland. The overtly industrial substation infrastructure is within the Significant Landscape Overlay right in front of the Mt Rothwell Sanctuary and Heritage listed Homestead.

The BESS battery bank is 10 acre and right next to the native forest that leads through the snactuary to the You Yans, the worst possible spot for a major fire hazard.

The solar farm will be four times bigger than the whole Melbourne CBD.

New substation proposed for protected land in SLO1, foothills of You Yangs, immediately adjacent to dense old native bushland leading directly through to the You Yangs.

We appreciate the need for Solar Farms, and have no issue with the bulk of the proposal being built to the north of Little River - Ripley Road.

But South of the road, the Significant Landscape Overlays, SLO1 and SLO4, were created to protect the habitat and views of, and views from the You Yangs. They were created to protect the area and should not be ignored. The community must share the message and get some submissions submitted in order to protect the You Yangs Precint.

Notification was only received by snail mail on 12th November, with a deadline of 22 November to respond.

KEY POINTS

  •  Solar farm, Battery Farm and Substation in SLO1 at Southern end of project, south of Little River - Ripley Rd, should not be allowed.

  •  The plan involves removal on 24 acres of native landscape and dozens of native trees, this should not be permitted.

  • Movies such as Mad Max and TV are regularly filmed in the area; The Dressmaker and Ned Kelly were filmed at Mt Rothwell - this development will ruin the landscape and outlook of these heritage buildings  and settings, making future filming unlikely.

  • The land area proposed for the substation and 10 acres of Batteries (BESS) has a Bushfire Management Overlay, it’s directly on the boundary of old growth native forest that extends south east through the Mt Rothwell Sanctuary and You Yangs Regional Park area. The BESS is located 22.3mts from this forest.

  • The Developer states the project is not viable if they have to move either or both of these items of infrastructure away from the transmission lines. The CFA requested this be relocated but has been ignored.

  • Both of these infrastructure items are located adjacent the boundary of the Mt Rothwell Biodiversity and Interpretation Centre which is a 450Ha sanctuary of native grassland and forest used for the preservation and research of endangered native grassland species such as the eastern barred bandicoot, the rock wallaby, quolls and bettongs.

  • Both of these items of infrastructure are located in full view of the 150 yr old Victorian Heritage Listed Mt Rothwell Homestead including the 5 Ha heritage garden area. The proposed development is located in the back yard of the You Yangs Regional Park and is in full view from Flinders Peak which attracts 500,000 visitors per year.

  • This land area also supports habitat for numerous native animal species, reptiles, over 80 different bird species (including birds of prey who will have their hunting grounds obliterated by solar panels) and the endangered golden moth, earless dragon and growling frog.

  • Local roads are unfit for the purpose, being single lane, and/or unsealed with soft edges. The traffic management report indicated up to 20 B double truck movements per hour during construction.

  •  Whilst a previous application on the same site had a public consultation process, that application was withdrawn, and the resubmitted plans have skipped this process entirely. 

  • Previous objections for the Solar Farm proposal on this site will not be considered - so if you objected previously, please resubmit.

 Time is of the essence sadly…

We must protect the You Yangs and it's surrounds from the constant barrage of opportunistic inappropriate development. 

LITTLE RIVER BESS

ACE Energy have proposed a battery energy storage facility on Sandy Creek Road just west of the You Yangs.

The State Government have taken up planning control and seem to be fast tracking it, with with an extremely tight deadline to provide input. Minimal consultation has occurred, with neighbours reporting only finding out by media.

We hold significant concerns regarding significant safety risks, noise emissions and the loss of productive agricultural land.

We are concerned about the risk to the community if there was to be a fire on site, with it creating toxic smoke or worse starting a grassfire or bushfire.

We note the site was originally where the 1969 fires started.

Lithium batteries are prone to "thermal runaway" where an individual battery overheats uncontrollably. This can create a chain reaction where it spreads to create large fires that are resistant to being extinguished by usual methods.

For context, the Moorabool Tesla Battery Fire started due to a technical failure with a cooling system. It burned for 4 days before crews could extinguish it, with toxic smoke being blown into homes.

There is also the potential for significant noise emissions from the supporting systems for the batteries such as transformers and ventilation systems. The planning documents submtted by the developer seem to support this.

The proposal would also lead to loss of prime agricultural land and is likely to negatively impact neighbours operations.

We ask that you visit the Victorian Government's ‘Engage Victoria’ website to view details and send your objection to priority.projects@transport.vic.gov.au.

View from the You Yangs for the proposed Little River battery storage facility.

The proposed Little River battery storage facility is tripple the size of the Moorabool Tesla battery storage facility pictured above.

Ariel view of the Moorabool Tesla battery storage facility. The proposed Little River battery storage facility will be triple the size.