State government's tighter regulations for solar get Green light from Wagga Deputy Mayor Jenny McKinnon

The NSW government has proposed planning amendments that would restrict the construction of large-scale solar energy projects within five kilometres of residential areas in eight regional cities including Wagga.

The amendment would not ban solar projects altogether in residential or agricultural areas, but would provide guidelines for authorities to consider factors such as visual impact, glare, and alternative uses for the land.

Greens Councillor McKinnon said Wagga City Council would assess the potential benefits and impacts of each project on a "case-by-case basis".

"It's going to be important that we take all of them into account anytime we make a decision about those things," she said.

"I would always hope that there might be consideration given for multiple uses, so that perhaps a solar farm could be combined with grazing, for example."

Despite concerns about negative community attitudes towards potential solar projects nearby, Wagga property valuer Chris Egan said visual impacts such as glare were a 'low consideration' for property buyers in the hyper-competitive Wagga market.

"A body of water has a higher reflection level than a solar farm," he said.

"People pay a high price to be next to water."

"There's such a strong, voracious appetite for residential and rural land at the moment that people wouldn't differentiate between land being next to a solar farm or not," he said.

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The use of prime agricultural land for solar farming has been called into question this week by a proposal to build a 160,000MW solar farm between Borambola and Tarcutta by green energy company Spark Renewables.

Mr Egan said the government should consider the highest and best use of farms slated for conversion to solar, "so we're not taking prime rural land out of the production cycle."

William Adlong from local group Climate Rescue of Wagga said the idea that there is a loss of productivity when farmland is converted to solar is not well-based, pointing to projects where panels have provided shading for sheep grazing and crops.

"There can continue to be agricultural uses. It just needs to be designed well for that," he said.

Mr Adlong said the NSW government had been a leader in setting emission targets and he supported a more tightly-regulated solar industry.

"I'm actually glad to see the NSW [government] consider the need of regional cities and towns and regulate the location of some of these renewable developments," he said.

Wagga City Council staff are currently putting together a report on the council's net zero emission targets following a notice of motion by the newly-elected deputy mayor earlier this month.

Cr McKinnon said she believes both residents and local industry have a role to play in achieving net zero emissions.

"Our first step is to get representation from all of those sectors to give us that advice, and they would be the experts," she said.

It is unclear whether the state government amendments will affect an $8 million solar farm proposal in North Wagga, which is currently awaiting council approval.

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