The tale of two sites: Solar farm shines light on sediment run-off

The city received almost 35mm on December 20 and 21 and sediment-filled runoff flowed from a cleared development site at 99 May Street into wetlands below.

But over at Bridge Street, off Sydney Road, there was little runoff and sediment was contained within a detention pond. Civil works are underway at the 2.5 hectare site for the Goulburn solar farm, a community owned venture.

Mr Fraser attributes the difference to a series of swales and hessian cover over much of the area. The sediment controls were part of council consent conditions for the $5 million 1.5 megawatt solar farm. The aim was to control water quality given the Wollondilly River's proximity.

Proponent, Community Energy for Goulburn, of which Mr Fraser is president, spent $70,000 on hessian covers and grass seed respraying. Mr Fraser said under council conditions, there had to 80 per cent grass cover before work proper could begin

He said CE4G was happy to do the work to protect the environment. But he argued there was a stark difference to the May Street site where a wetland volunteer group has had to continually clear sediment washed down from a cleared subdivision.

"It is not the council's fault because May Street (subdivision) was approved in 2008. But there is something wrong with the system when they (developers) can get away with poor environmental controls and we have to do all this," he said.

"We're happy to do it...but how much council monitoring was done at May Street, were too many trees chopped down and was someone checking on sediment control?...It was a disaster for the wetlands."

Mr Fraser questioned whether the council had learnt from the May Street "fiasco" and if these lessons would be applied to future development on steep land.

The council is on Christmas/New Year break. However environment and planning director, Scott Martin, told The Post in 2023 that compliance staff were doing regular inspections at 99 May Street. Sediment control measures, including the detention pond, were enforced. In December, a spokesperson said the council "looked forward to working with the new owner."

The former owner, Lock and Strand Pty Ltd, entered voluntary liquidation in 2023 and the property has since been sold to another company.

Mr Fraser said if that entity submitted a modified development application, it was an opportunity for the council to implement more rigorous sediment control.

Meantime, preliminary earthworks, including site clearing and a new fence have been completed in Bridge Street for what will be Australia's first community owned renewable energy project.

It will comprise about 4000 solar panels and a one megawatt storage battery. The farm will generate a maximum 1.5MW in electricity for the grid and return dividends to investors. The project represents more than eight years' work by CE4G.

The group will soon apply for a construction certificate, which will enable work to start on a carpark, a cement slab for the storage battery and additional sediment controls.

CE4G hopes to place panels in April and to have the solar farm operational by June or July. Consent conditions also require resurfacing of Bridge Street. In September, 2023, the council granted CE4G an exemption for $45,000 in Section 94A fees associated with this work, given the "public benefit" and the fact it was not-for-profit.

The project attracted $2.3m in government grants. A total 330 private investors contributed $2.8m, with amounts ranging from $400 to $100,000. CE4G estimates a five per cent return on investments.

"It's incredibly encouraging that there are 330 people committed to this project in the region," Mr Fraser said.

"They've been very patient because we've had their money for two years and there's no dividend yet."

The solar farm has experienced planning delays, including the need for a modified DA to accommodate a larger battery storage. This was incorporated after the state government's March, 2020 $2.1m grant for the project.