The wrong location – that’s the message from a group of farmers and residents from the Loomberah area who met with Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson to reiterate their opposition to the proposed Lambruk Solar Farm.

Mr Anderson said the project was opposed by the landholders due to unacceptable impacts to neighbouring farms and residences, loss of productive farmland, and a lack of community consultation.

“The Loomberah area is a mix of pristine equine, agricultural, and lifestyle land holdings with local farmers and residents who are passionate about their land and their community,” Mr Anderson said.

“The proposed Lambruk Solar Farm is causing deep angst among the community who have repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the proposed project.

“This would be an enormous solar farm covering 1528 hectares of farmland, with immediate neighbours who will be negatively impacted by the 850,000 solar panels on site.

“I’ve told the proponents that this project is in the wrong location, and that they should explore other options. There is a lack of genuine community consultation, and landholder’s concerns are being ignored.

“I have called for a moratorium on new renewable energy projects on agricultural land because the planning process is ignoring community concerns regarding large-scale renewable energy projects that are clearly in the wrong location.

“The NSW Department of Planning needs urgent reform to ensure it is responding to the concerns of the community and is ruling out projects that have unacceptable impacts on communities.

“I am calling on the Labor Government to introduce a moratorium on renewables, so that the government can ensure that the right projects are being built in the right locations.”