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Farm to rely on blue sky mining By MICHELLE SLATER
THE state government has approved a planning permit to build a new 70-megawatt solar farm on Tramway Road, expected to be operational by 2024. The Morwell Solar Farm is being managed by new Thai-owned operators RATCH-Australia, which already owns 1.2 gigawatts of gas and renewables in Australia. The proposed Hazelwood North site sits on two properties encompassing about 170 hectares, diagonally opposite the Morwell Terminal Station. RATCH-Australia communications officer Mieka White said the company would be about to put out expressions of interest for construction tenders, with a focus on local expertise and labour. Ms White said the project is expected to provide 150 jobs in peak construction, which is hoped to start in August or September this year. The solar farm anticipated to have a 30-year lifespan and will require ongoing maintenance crew. “The site is flat and this is perfect for us, and it is surrounded by industrial sites that we will liaise with to arrange power purchasing agreements,” Ms White said. “The grid is also very strong with capacity from the former Hazelwood Power Station just there, which makes the site very attractive.” Ms White said there would be minimal vegetation lost with plans to revegetate for roadside screening and plantings along a creek. She said site access will be from Tramway Road
Location, location: A site map of the newly-approved Morwell Solar Farm in Hazelwood North.
photograph supplied
making use of existing entry points minimising disruption to local roads. “Power generated by solar panels will be connected to the grid via a substation to be built in the north-western corner of the site,” she said. “From the substation, cables will run underground to the Morwell Terminal Station to enable power to enter the local network.” The company will now focus on furthering detailed technical studies to inform the next stage of the development. Ms White said locals may see some site investigations being carried-out in the next few
months before constructions starts. She said the planning approvals included a large scale battery, which could be part of the project’s second stage. Friends of the Earth renewable energy campaigner Pat Simons described the approval as “very welcome news” for the Latrobe Valley that meant the “region could continue to power the state into the future”. “With several other projects like the Delburn wind farm and the game changing Star of the South offshore wind project proposed for Gippsland, there is a huge opportunity to create new career paths for the community,” Mr Simons said.
Clubs call for money to flood-proof reserve Continued from page 1
Heartbroken: Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby president Bodye Darvill with skates ruined by toxic blackwater after the club had fundraised for second hand gear. photograph michelle slater
The club was then stymied by COVID and was overlooked for funding in the infamous sports rorts fiasco with former federal Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie. “It’s been blow after blow. It’s been absolutely gutting, I couldn’t even tell you, it was emotionally heartbreaking in the clean-up, we were crying on-and-off for days,” Ms Darvill said. The roller derby club is one of several user groups working with Latrobe City to re-design new purpose-built facilities. The Glenview Park development would include the Traralgon Men’s Shed and Latrobe Valley Dodgeball Association, as well the racing, croquet and equestrian clubs. Meanwhile, the multi-use Traralgon Recreation Reserve pavilion would cater to the Traralgon Football Netball Club, Traralgon Boxing Club and Ex-Students Cricket Club. “One of the coolest things is, it’s a mixed use community hub and we will have shared spaces,” Ms Darvill said. “I really like this as we can work together and make it a community space instead of being in standalone spaces.” Latrobe City has pledged $2 million toward the project and will seek state and federal funding to reach the $10 million mark. Latrobe City Mayor Kellie O’Callaghan said extent of the flood damage was more extreme than anticipated, with a number of buildings beyond repair. “Council believes there is an opportunity to create new, purpose-built spaces to better accommodate all user groups and prevent future damage in the event of flooding,” Cr O’Callaghan said.
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Community voices: Newly-selected Independent candidate for Monash Deb Leonard. photograph supplied
Contender announced By MICHELLE SLATER
A PHILLIP Island lawyer has been pre-selected to stand as an Independent in the communityrun Voices for Monash movement against incumbent Liberal MP Russell Broadbent. Deb Leonard was chosen to run in this year’s federal election in the seat of Monash by members of the community independents group in a forum last weekend. Ms Leonard won a close vote against Loy Yang worker Tony Wolfe, who also stood for pre-selection. The first-time candidate said she was buoyed to stand on the back of the success of the other federal independents who were supported by the Voices movement. “I’ve always been interested in politics, but I didn’t align myself with either of the two major parties and I’m disillusioned with the two-party system,” Ms Leonard said. “It’s very powerful for a community to come together and vote for a candidate to represent them instead of a candidate who will vote along party lines and is influenced by big donations. “The more independent, honest and scrupulous members, the more we can get politics back on track.” Ms Leonard said her main pitch was action on climate change through supporting more renewables, supporting small businesses, and establishing a federal corruption commission. The legal practitioner described herself as “in the middle” of the political spectrum who would vote on each policy on its merits against how it balanced against the community’s values She said she was keen to visit the electorate leading into the election – which is yet to be called- to hear from constituents on local issues. “The Valley has a lot of people in the fossil fuel industry, a part of my platform on climate change was moving to renewables, and investment into re-skilling workers into prosperous careers in this sector,” she said. “It’s a growing area and there’s a lot of opportunity into re-skilling and infrastructure in the Valley.”
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The Latrobe Valley Express, Wednesday, 9 February, 2022 — Page 7
