A Solar Farm at Pioneer Park

The City wants your views on a proposed Solar Farm...

In June 2019 the City conducted a survey to gather the community’s opinions on and attitudes towards environmental sustainability with a key focus on understanding the community’s attitudes towards developing a Solar Farm within the City. With 70% of the community in favour of further investigation, the City conducted a pre feasibility study to identify possible locations. The pre feasibility report identified the most viable location for a solar farm on land owned or controlled by the City (avoiding land procurement costs) was Pioneer Park in Forrestfield.

Future use of Pioneer Park is restricted due to it’s history as a former landfill site.

We’d like to know what you think about developing a Solar Farm at Pioneer Park. We appreciate your time in completing the below survey and in contributing to this important community discussion.

Consultation closed 5pm, Friday 2 April 2021.

Projected benefits to the City of Kalamunda

The proposed Pioneer Park Solar Farm:

• Will see the City proactively take control of its electricity supply to combat rising electricity costs, which, after a 7% increase last year (2020), prices are expected to increase by a further 9% in total over the next two years. Annual price changes are set by the Western Australian Government.
• Provide City facilities and operations with renewable electricity.
• Complement the communities existing solar PV rooftops and contribute to the reduction of Australia’s carbon emissions
• Deliver significant monetary savings (after costs) for ratepayers from the City’s lower electricity costs.
• Develop local jobs and investment within the City.
• Potential for community energy savings
• Revenue generation to contribute to the city’s financial sustainability

Solar Energy

Solar farms are large scale solar installations where photovoltaic (PV) panels, referred to as solar panels, are used to harvest the suns power. Solar farms are also known as solar parks and solar power stations. Unlike fossil fuels such as coal, generating electricity from renewable sources like solar power creates no emissions that are harmful to human health and the environment.

The land area required for a desired power output, varies depending on the location, and on the efficiency of the solar modules, the slope of the site and the type of mounting used. The best locations for solar parks in terms of land use are held to be brown field sites, or where there is no other valuable land use, as is the case with Pioneer Park.

The Kalamunda Clean and Green Local Environment Strategy 2019 - 2029 provides the framework to manage environmental pressures and improve sustainable practices over the next decade and beyond. In developing the Kalamunda Clean and Green Local Environment Strategy 2019 – 2029, one of the City’s goals relating to Natural Resources has been identified as:

The City of Kalamunda has agreed to a vision for an environmentally sustainable future, at is contained in the Kalamunda Advancing 2027 Strategic Community Plan. The plan sets out priorities for meeting community expectations and includes provisions for a Local Environment Strategy (LES). Community members are always welcome to play a part, working with City staff to care for our local environment. Renewable energy development and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are important goals for the City, as is conservation of habitat and species diversity. In engaging with the community on this project the perceived risks and benefits will be of key importance to the project team.

Previous Consultation

The future use of this site is of key interest to the City. As such we would like to consult with the community regarding what vision they have for this site moving forward.

In June 2019 the City conducted a survey to gather the communities opinions on, attitudes towards and practises in regards to sustainability. A specific focus of the survey was regarding the communities attitudes towards developing a Solar Farm in the City of Kalamunda.

Some key findings include:

• 58% of the responders currently have solar panels,
• 95% of the responders have heard of solar farms
• 70% responded in the positive in answer to ‘Do you think (a solar farm) is a concept the City of Kalamunda should explore further?’.

The most popular responses for where the proposed solar farm should be located were:

1. Mini solar farms on the roofs of commercial and City buildings/rooftop solar
2. Vacant, polluted, land with adequate access to solar rays. To maximise solar energy gain and use land that has limited possible uses (i.e. high levels of pollution in soil)
3. Dawson Park, Forrestfield
4. Contaminated space/dead space
5. Heidelberg Park

A feasibility was prepared by third party consultants Enhar investigating the validity of developing a solar farm at the Pioneer Park site.

The pre-feasibility assessment notes that proposed objectives of the solar farm project include:

• To offset all City of Kalamunda electricity greenhouse gas emissions.
• Lower energy costs for the City’s operations
• Potential for community energy savings
• Revenue generation to contribute to the city’s financial sustainability

Solar farms pose a large-scale solution to renewable energy. According to the Clean Energy Council, The renewable energy sector is experiencing unprecedented activity across Australia. Solar energy is considered and inexhaustible renewable resource.

Thank you! 

We appreciate your time in completing the below survey. Should you like information regarding the contamination at the Pioneer Park site, or should you have any other queries regarding the quality or safety of the groundwater on your property please contact the City Heath Services on 9257 9999 or email enquiries@kalamunda.wa.gov.au.

Consultation closed 5pm, Friday 9 April 2021.

Outcome

Community Engagement Report: Pioneer Park Future Use (Stages 1 and 2)