A decision on the development application for a controversial solar farm at Uriarra has been delayed until at least early 2015.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Residents near the proposed site of the One Sun Capital solar farm near Uriarra have continued their long-running opposition to the location of the 40-hectare solar farm, close to the residential village.
The ACT government has granted proponents of the project, Elementus Energy, a 20-year feed-in tariff entitlement for renewable power.
A spokeswoman for the Environment and Planning Directorate said this week no decision had been made on the application lodged by Elementus Energy.
The project is expected to produce as much as 12,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year, enough to power 2250 Canberra households.
According to Elementus Energy, the solar farm will cover about 27.6 hectares and consist of 26,000 panels, placed in a saw-tooth formation.
"The development application remains under consideration by the Planning and Land Authority," the Environment and Planning directorate spokeswoman said in a statement.
"Determination of the [development application] is now likely to be made in early 2015."
In July, a revised application was submitted to planning authorities and published. It showed the solar farm facility would be pushed back by about 50 metres from nearby homes in Uriarra Village.
Elementus Energy managing director Ashleigh Antflick said at the time the move came after concerns from nearby residents unhappy with the location and bushfire risk from the solar farm infrastructure.
Under the revised application, the company said 70 per cent of homes would be at least 300 metres away from the nearest solar panels and 50 per cent more than 500 metres away.
Submissions for the development application closed in August.
Environment Minister Simon Corbell and the Canberra Liberals have clashed over the project, with construction originally intended to begin in mid-2014 and be completed some time in 2015.
Planning Minister Mick Gentleman has previously said he understood the concerns of residents in Uriarra but wanted to let the independent planning process be completed.
The solar farm is one of three granted feed-in deals with the ACT government. Similar developments at Royalla and Mugga Lane form part of the government's 90 per cent renewable energy target for electricity in the ACT by 2020.
Uriarra's solar farm is expected to contribute to 80 jobs in the ACT.
