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Byron Shire
March 19, 2024

5MW solar farm funding under question

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Man killed in car crash near Coffs Harbour

A 76-year-old man died when the car he was driving crashed about 35 kms northwest of Coffs Harbour last Friday afternoon, police said.

Other News

Man killed in car crash near Coffs Harbour

A 76-year-old man died when the car he was driving crashed about 35 kms northwest of Coffs Harbour last Friday afternoon, police said.

Editorial – Giving it a tick and flick

The rezoning of high-value agricultural land for future housing – some on floodplains – is likely to be rushed through at Thursday’s Council meeting with last-minute tinkering – see page 1.

Byron Mayor backs down over floodplain development 

Mayor Michael Lyon told Mullum residents that he has the numbers to remove floodplain development but will push through the Residential Strategy that aims for 4,522 homes by 2041.

Trees and birds to go in Mullum?

When I heard that the council had new plans for Burringbar Street, I was curious to see what that...

Fridays4Forests demonstration outside Justine Elliot’s office

About thirty citizens gathered outside Richmond MP Justine Elliot’s South Tweed office on Friday to draw attention to the...

State of destruction

Tasmanians go to the polls next weekend, in an early election brought on by Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockcliff, whose party has fractured during its ten years in office but is currently warning voters not to elect a Labor minority government, which he's been calling a 'Coalition of Chaos'.

A 5MW solar farm proposed for Myocum, located near the Byron Resource Recovery Centre, poses a ‘high degree of risk’, and could jeopardise funding for other large Council infrastructure projects, according to a staff report, to be tabled at this Thursday’s meeting.

The Council project is part of its strategy to achieve a Net Zero Emissions target by 2025, along with the 0.5MW Bioenergy Facility. 

So far, ‘Council has invested $656,300 in actual and committed costs in the feasibility of the Dingo Lane Solar Farm overall’, says the report.

Council expects that it will need to borrow the full $12m to fund the project, which would ‘increase debt level by 20 per cent overall and by 57 per cent in the General Fund immediately’.

Projects at risk

Projects identified at risk of losing funding to the solar project include Byron Bay Bypass additional funding ($1.75m), Bio Energy – assuming no grant funding ($12m), Mullumbimby Hospital – post-remediation (unknown), Byron Bay Hospital ($3.5m), Byron Bay Drainage Strategy – assuming grant funding ($5m), Sandhills Estate – assuming grant funding ($3.5m), Byron Bay Town Centre Masterplan, Rail Corridor – Reinstatement of light rail, Coastal Protection Works, Vallances Road Sustainability Centre, Lot 22 Mullumbimby Development, Byron Bay Memorial Pool, Relocation and renewal of Bayshore Drive Depot.


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1 COMMENT

  1. The $M12 cost would pay the extra cost for Council to move to buying Green energy for over 50 years. Council presently buys greenhouse polluting coal and gas produced energy and while they are debating the next electricity purchase contract today, the GM informs me that they are not moving to buy Green energy , but are basically relying on tradable carbon credits from such nonsense as the proposed Methane producing Bio Energy Plant and solar projects to offset their pollution to achieve “net zero emissions” (while not counting their actual increase of emissions from bulldozing forest, landfill sent to Qld, or contractors equiptment or materials etc etc.) Can someone please tell them they are contributing to the Main Beach erosion and out of control bush fires.

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