Members of the local community and other stakeholders can read the EIS and submit their formal feedback to the Department ahead of its decision-making process.
The EIS describes the project and provides an assessment of the potential social, environmental, and economic impacts and a number of other detailed technical reports as required by the Department. It also includes a detailed summary of the community consultation on the project and the refinements we have made as a result of that feedback.
Project background
The Stubbo Solar Farm is being proposed across a study area of 1,750 hectares of mostly cleared grazing land about 10 kilometers north of the historic mining town of Gulgong.
It will generate over a thousand gigawatt hours of clean renewable energy from the region’s abundant sunshine, enough to power more than 150,000 NSW homes.
It is expected to create up to 400 jobs during construction and up to 10 full time jobs during its operational life, as well as work for local businesses and contractors. It is estimated at least 50 percent of jobs during construction will be filled by workers from the local region.
The project has been designed to allow sheep grazing to continue in and around the solar panels.
Community feedback
Several key changes were made to the development proposal as a result of feedback received during community and stakeholder engagement.
In addition, UPC\AC Renewables has excluded almost 30% of the study area to preserve and avoid areas of areas of environmental significance and aboriginal heritage.
A workforce availability assessment is currently being prepared in consultation with Council and local stakeholders and businesses. This will help determine the skills capabilities in the regional workforce and potential training to help provide more employment opportunities for locals.
The assessment will also consider accommodation requirements and availability for workers.
Following feedback already received from locals, the access to the project site for construction and operations will be from Blue Springs Road. Barneys Reef Road will only be used in emergencies.
The Stubbo Solar Farm EIS will be on public exhibition from Tuesday January 12 until February 19.
You can read the EIS and submit your feedback to the Department via the Major Projects section of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment website.
You may also directly contact the project team at stubbo@upc-ac.com
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