IF Liz Crowe knew she'd one day be looking out across a paddock full of solar panels from the deck of her family home, she wouldn't have touched the property with a "10-foot pole".
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The New England resident is ready to fight "tooth and nail" against a proposed solar farm, near Tamworth, which she said threatens the value of her home and her family's well-being.
Total Eren, a French and Melbourne-based power producer, is pushing ahead with plans to build a solar farm, and energy storage system on Middlebrook Road in Loomberah, about 22 kilometres south of Tamworth.
Mrs Crowe, who could soon live next door to the proposed development, said it's the wrong place for a solar farm.
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She said her family, who have lived in Loomberah for nine years, have had a number of private meetings with the developer to try and come to a solution.
"They do a lot of listening and not a lot of talking, it's like they're just telling us what we want to hear, which is a bit frustrating," Mrs Crowe said.
In the latest meeting earlier this week, the family was shown photo montages of what the view from their deck could look like if the solar farm goes ahead.
Mrs Crowe said the developers had determined the visual impact of the "entire paddock of solar panels" would be low, an opinion she said was a "load of crock".
She said Total Eren had offered to plant a wall of trees in front of the solar panels as compensation.
But the view isn't the family's only concern, Mrs Crowe said the proposal is also threatening to decrease the value of their home.
She said the developer offered the family a small yearly payment, which she considered a "kick in the face."
The development has been front-of-mind for the family since 2020, when a 'Scoping Report' was first lodged with the NSW Department of Planning as a 'State Significant Project'.
If the solar farm is given the tick of approval, multiple parcels of land will be covered in rotating panels which will connect to two existing transmission lines.
An onsite storage facility and other associated infrastructure will also be constructed.
If the project goes ahead, Mrs Crowe said she had serious concerns about the construction process and the safety of her young children.
"During the build there will be construction trucks will be going along our dirt road, which is not great by any means," she said.
"I walk along that road, we go for rides on the horses with the kids."
The Middlebrook Road development marks the second solar farm which has been slated for the Loomberah area.
Venn Artibir Group, a Canadian company, has released plans to build an 800,000 solar panel farm, which will sit between Kia Ora Lane and Duri-Dungowan Road.
The family is spending every waking hour to come up with a solution to the power problem.
But time is running out.
After holding community consultation sessions in April, Total Eren is anticipating an Environmental Impact Statement will be lodged with the department by the end of the month.
Once submitted the document will be open to public comment for 28 days before the developer is given the chance to respond to any submissions.
Mrs Crowe said if the family is not able to find a solution, she will be forced to object to the proposal.
"I do not want this going ahead," she said.
Total Eren was contacted for comment but did not reply by deadline.
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Tess Kelly
Tess Kelly is a journalist at The Advocate. Story tips and goss can be sent to tess.kelly@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Tess Kelly is a journalist at The Advocate. Story tips and goss can be sent to tess.kelly@austcommunitymedia.com.au
