{"id":23098,"date":"2018-07-27T05:58:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T19:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=23098"},"modified":"2018-07-27T05:58:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T19:28:52","slug":"esco-glenrowan-solar-farm-mb0684","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/esco-glenrowan-solar-farm-mb0684\/","title":{"rendered":"ESCO Pacific Takes Solar Farm Decision To VCAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Glenrowan<\/p>\n

Rural City of Wangaratta Council have been unable to arrive at a decision on whether to green-light Glenrowan Solar Farm, so the developer has taken the application to VCAT.<\/p>\n

The $150 million ESCO Pacific project is proposed for construction just a couple of kilometres from the town of Glenrowan at a 245 hectare site currently primarily used for grazing and hay production.<\/p>\n

The 140MW facility, consisting of 420,000 solar panels, would connect to the grid via the Glenrowan Terminal Substation.<\/p>\n

Rural City of Wangaratta Council\u00a0said<\/a> it tried its best to make a decision, but wasn’t able to do so. The situation has apparently been complicated by a number of objections to the project from nearby residents.<\/p>\n

Once Council exceeded the prescribed time for a decision, ESCO Pacific headed to VCAT. This won’t be a quick process, with the company saying it will take 4 – 5 months for a decision to be made. Wangaratta City Council will still also play a role in this process.<\/p>\n

This isn’t the first situation of its type in Victoria, with four other solar projects in the Greater Shepparton area currently in VCAT’s hands.<\/p>\n

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal was established in 1998. It’s a tribunal that hears and decides civil and administrative legal cases in the state – and plenty of them. According to VCAT, it finalises more than 85,000 cases a year. As more solar farms seek to establish close to populated areas, VCAT is likely to be seeing more of these cases.<\/p>\n

The Wangaratta region has become a hotspot for large-scale solar activity. In neighbouring Shire of Benalla, two solar farms have been approved for Winton and Glenrowan West, with another being decided on.<\/p>\n

ESCO’s Big Solar Pipeline<\/h2>\n

Aside from Glenrowan Solar Farm, ESCO Pacific has a lot happening at the moment, with an impressive pipeline of projects at various stages:<\/p>\n