Z-NET Uralla is a community group with the mission of assisting the people of the Uralla Shire transition to 100% renewable energy and to allow our community to confidently participate in the unfolding revolution in energy technologies.
The solar farm east of Uralla, proposed by UPC Renewables (UPC), is a State Significant Development under review by the State Planning and Heritage Department. Recently our community had the opportunity to give feedback on the project through public submissions that closed on 20 March 2019. There were over 100 submissions, principally from locals, however some from as far afield as Denver and Los Angeles. And there were 15 submissions from a diverse group of organisations, including Uralla Shire Council, Trans Grid and Uralla Business Chamber. All are publically available on the NSW Planning website (http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=9255)
The next step is for UPC to prepare a Response to the Submissions, where feedback will be grouped into common themes and UPC must outline how they propose to address the issues. As a result of this feedback, UPC has already made the decision to withdraw development in the Southern Array (the section accessed from Gostwyck Road and Thunderbolts Way).
The Department’s assessment (covering the Northern and Central Arrays) will be referred to the Independent Planning Commission (IPC, https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/our-processes) for a final decision, and this may involve public meetings. Z-NET Uralla will keep you posted over the next 4-5 months on the progress and if public meetings will be held.
