$8m solar farm proposed for 59 Hillary Street North Wagga by Risen Energy

The application was submitted last week for a renewable energy site to be constructed on a double lot at 59 Hillary Street, North Wagga.

According to documents lodged as part of the project's statement of environmental effects, the development would have its entry point on Hillary Road.

It would border the railway line to the west and Wagga Wagga Country Cottages and other Byrnes Road lots to the east.

The solar farm is expected to cover about 20 hectares of the 35 hectare block and have a capacity of up to five megawatts.

The development is estimated to cost $8,164,855, with the applicant listed on the proposal a Mr Bin Li, who is the general manager of Risen Energy Australia.

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The project's statement of environmental effects outlines how the solar farm, if it passes the approvals process, would sit above North Wagga's notorious floodplain and be unlikely to be impacted by flooding.

North Wagga resident Greg Hindmarsh's Byrnes Road home borders the proposed solar farm site, but he is open to the idea of the development.

"Those solar farms, they're all a good thing if you're going to cut fossil fuels and go the green way," Mr Hindmarsh said.

"As far as I'm concerned I'm happy with it on principle [but] I'd like to have a good look at the plans because our boundary comes all the way up to the block."

Mr Hindmarsh said while he couldn't speak on behalf of the community, he imagined their reaction would be "largely positive" with "some concerns".

Bill Schulz is the president of the nearby Eunony Valley Residents Association, where three solar farms have been installed in recent years.

Mr Schulz said his community will not be directly impacted by this solar farm, but warned the area could encounter similar problems to those he claims Eunony has, including "reflection, water run off, felling of trees and loss of fauna".

Mr Schulz would like to see solar farms constructed in more remote, arid areas and said the association may oppose the development on those grounds.

"To me it is about proximity, do we need solar [built] in the middle of Wagga?" he said.

According to the SEE documents, the project is anticipated to be "visually prominent in the surrounding area" and to have some acoustic impacts during construction.

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