Documents lodged with a state panel reveal the proposal has an $8 million price tag. Photo: File/Oliver Jacques.
After assessing a proposal for a 12-hectare solar farm, a southern NSW council has concluded that consent conditions will mitigate any negative impacts.
EDPR Australia has lodged plans for the development, which would be located off Anglers Reach Road, about nine kilometres south-east of Adaminaby.
In its newly filed assessment, Snowy Monaro Regional Council (SMRC) recommends that it be given a conditional tick of approval.
“Key issues in the assessment of the application included visual impacts on neighbouring properties and Anglers Reach Road, the potential for glare impacts on motorists, and proximity to Lake Eucumbene and the location of the proposal within the Lake Eucumbene scenic protection area,” the report states.
“In each case impacts were deemed acceptable or relevant draft conditions of consent are proposed to mitigate impacts to an acceptable degree.”
It’s proposed that a 48-hectare site become home to about 10,260 solar modules, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a new power pole, vegetation screening and associated infrastructure.
The proposed development would take up about 12.25 hectares, and has been referred to the NSW Southern Regional Planning Panel.
Documents lodged with the state panel state the proposal was initially lodged with the council in December 2025, before being partly revised in July.
In its report, SMRC flags a concern around glare from the solar panels.
“Glare impacts on Anglers Reach Road were determined to be low, but of concern,” the report states.
“It is therefore a draft condition of consent that the angle of the solar arrays be managed at the relevant times to remove glare impacts on this road.”
Vegetation screening is also proposed along the northern and eastern sides, with the council recommending a consent condition be imposed that this be maintained while the solar farm is operational.
The site for the proposed development was described as “geographically and visually isolated” from the nearby villages of Old Adaminaby and Anglers Reach.
The proposed solar farm would take up part of a larger site off Anglers Reach Road. Image: Supplied.
The council report states that impacts to waterways (including Lake Eucumbene) are considered “negligible”, also noting the site has already been largely cleared of native vegetation.
It is currently used for livestock grazing.
“The area of land temporarily lost for agriculture use is negligible relative to available RU1 primary production land within the region,” the report states.
The land is also bushfire prone, with the proposal including a 10 metre asset protection zone and 20,000 L on-site water tank.
An assessment by the council’s development engineer judged the existing road network capable of handling the traffic during construction.
In its conditions of consent, SMRC calls for reports to be prepared about the condition of the nearby section of Anglers Reach Road and the intersection with Old Adaminaby Road to be completed before and after site construction.
The SMRC assessment found the “primary landscape” impact being evaluated was possible impacts to views of Lake Eucumbene.
However, the council was satisfied that there would be “no significant impacts on the key scenic and public domain values” of the area, if the proposal was approved.
“Being the first solar farm in the region, there are not considered to be cumulative impacts associated with visual impacts and modification of the rural landscape.”
If approved, the solar farm would operate for 35 years.
The proposal will also be subject to a future public meeting before the NSW Southern Regional Planning Panel makes its decision.
Further information on the proposal, including a copy of the council’s report, is available on the planning panel’s website.
