Wagga councillor Richard Foley calls for council to build 10 megawatt solar farm at Gregadoo Waste Management Centre

Councillor Richard Foley believes building a 10 megawatt solar farm at the Gregadoo Waste Management Centre could be the perfect way for Wagga City Council to achieve its corporate net-zero target and generate money at the same time.

The region has recently become a magnet for major solar farm developments, many of which have drawn the ire of nearby residents who believe the panels are a blemish to the landscape and a waste of "prime agricultural land".

In other news

Cr Foley said the rubbish dump would be the ideal location for the potential council-owned solar farm, as it would not anger any nearby residents and would be going on land already earmarked for landfill.

"The number one thing is it's a landfill site so the only thing it would really disturb is whatever creatures live out there," he said.

TransGrid's 330 kilovolt substation is also located just 500 metres away from the waste management centre, which Cr Foley suggested could make it "cheap to hook the power into the line".

The councillor made it clear this was just an idea he has had "kicking around", and council would need to get staff and experts to "crunch the numbers" to see if it is viable.

"I'm going to call for some type of taskforce to set it up and get some experts that can actually have a look at it and see if it works," Cr Foley said.

"My view is if we're going to have solar energy in the region we need to own it ourselves for community purposes and get the benefit for our community not just send it offshore."

Greens councillor Jenny McKinnon has been a central figure in the council's recent climate discussions and said Cr Foley's suggestion sounded promising.

She pointed out other government organisations, such as Riverina Water, that have undertaken similar projects and said it was "absolutely" the kind of thing Wagga City Council should consider.

"The fact of the matter is we need renewable energies to replace our dirty power options we have now," Cr McKinnon said.

"I know people are concerned about the look of solar farms and in other options feel prime agricultural land is being used ... so this would probably be the least controversial option you could have."

Cr Foley plans to put the solar farm proposal forward as a motion at the next ordinary meeting, which is currently scheduled for Monday, July 18.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: