3.0 site services - planning.wa.gov.au daps/metro east jdap... · design and approval of such...

Development Application Byford Solar Project WestGen Pty Ltd

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3.0 SITE SERVICES

3.1 WATER

The Project will be serviced with a reticulated water supply that will be extended from the nearby rural - residential subdivision located along Thomas Road. The reticulated water supply will service all the buildings within the proposed development and will also provide supplementary supply for fire management and landscape reticulation. An onsite plastic water tank will assist in providing fire fighting water for the site.

3.2 EFFLUENT DISPOSAL

Given that the subject land is not within proximity to a reticulated sewerage supply, and in view of the low intensity of the proposed development, it is proposed to adopt onsite effluent disposal or methods with the installation of Alternative Treatment Unit systems. A commercial sized biocycle system, including an amended soils reticulation area, would be an ideal system for the site conditions and would comply with the objectives of the Peel Harvey Planning Policy Guidelines. The design and approval of such effluent disposal systems would occur at the time of building licence for each of the proposed components of the development. A separate effluent disposal application will be submitted also.

3.3 DRAINAGE

The construction of the Project requires minimal ground disturbance. The existing ground levels will remain with the exception of minor changes for access tracks around the site (see site plan in Appendix B). There will be two access tracks through the centre of the property; one running east-west, which is an existing Western Power track, and one new north-south track. There will also be an access track around the perimeter of the property that also acts as a firebreak. Access tracks are proposed to be crushed limestone and may be a maximum of 150mm-200mm above existing levels but would use culverts when crossing existing drainage lines so as not to impede drainage (see drainage report in Appendix D). Note that the drainage report modelled a range of tracks for investigative purposes but it is not proposed to construct that amount of tracks.

There are no concerns about flooding on the land parcels owing to the sandy nature of the soil and flat topography. Natural dispersion of storm water will not be changed by the construction of the solar panels.

Roof water from the proposed building will be managed as much as possible within the surrounding landscape garden areas of those buildings via a combination of soak well systems and sub-soil drainage including shallow swales. Runoff water can also be used to fill water tanks to be used for fire fighting,


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4.0 TOWN PLANNING & ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

4.1 PARKING

Sufficient parking spaces have been designed to meet the predicted amount of traffic at the site. This is expected to be 2-3 cars daily belonging to the facility operators. There are also sufficient parking spaces for visitors.

The parking area will be surfaced with asphalt.

4.2 ROAD IMPACTS

Once the construction of the facility is completed, it is expected that there will be minimum traffic into and out of the site. A facility such as this requires minimum maintenance, so there will not be large numbers of vehicles belonging to workers entering Thomas Road. It is estimated that a maximum of 10-15 vehicles will enter/leave the viewing area each day.

During construction period, there will be significant traffic into and out of the site. This will consist of delivery trucks and vehicles of construction staff. This is not expected to exceed 25 vehicles per day. The site layout will ensure there is suitable parking and set-down space on site, and no vehicles will be parked along public roads.

WestGen will offer to upgrade a section of Rice Road to accommodate the extra vehicles which are expected to use this road during operation. This will involve the potential widening of the first 100m of the road from Thomas Road, to ensure this stretch of road can accommodate two vehicles meeting. It will also ensure there is sufficient space to turn into the proposed carpark. This development will ensure that no traffic will have to travel along Rice Road to turn.

The trenching aspect of this project will entail the burying of cables alongside Thomas Road, between the site and Byford substation. This scope of work will be carried out by Western Power. They will work closely with Main Roads to adhere to all required rules and regulations.

4.3 BUILDINGS

The switchyard area of the development will consist of one main office building, one shed, and three switch rooms. The office building and storage shed will be 12m x 6m in size, and a maximum of 4.9m in height. The switch rooms will be approximately 22m x 4.5m in size and a up to 5.1m in height. The switch rooms will be dark green in colour and the main office building and shed will be a light shade of grey. The buildings will be designed to conform with local buildings of the area, e.g. farm sheds. This is to ensure the facility conforms with the character of existing building design of the area.

There will be external steel steps to each of the doors of the buildings, which will be constructed from galvanised and painted steel.

The buildings themselves will be steel constructions, similar to mine site camp dongas - complying with or exceed the minimum efficiency requirements stated in the building code of Australia. They


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will have wall, floor and ceiling insulation, double-glazed tinted windows, and be fully air-conditioned. There will be properly installed gutters and drainpipes to capture rain water to the water tank on site. The will be below ground reticulation of treated waste water. Waterless urinals will also be installed.

The buildings will be positioned on concrete slabs, rated to accommodate the weight of the structure. Between the buildings the area will be covered with crushed limestone.

4.4 FLORA AND FAUNA

A flora and fauna assessment of the Project area was undertaken and the following is a summary of the findings of the report (Appendix C).

The vegetation and flora survey of the site found that the vegetation condition was completely degraded and hence only 11 species of native flora were recorded and 63 species were introduced flora. No Priority Flora (PF) or Threatened Flora (TF) as listed under the Wildlife Conservation (WC) Act 1950 were recorded from the project area during the field survey. No TF under the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 were recorded from within the project area during the field survey.

Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPW) database searches revealed no known records of state listed Threatened (TECs) or Priority Ecological Communities (PECs) for the project area. No federally listed TECs under the EPBC Act 1999 have previously been recorded. The road reserve between Abernethy Road and the southern boundary of the project area and outside of the project area supports what appears to be a slightly more intact example of PEC: Casuarina obesa Association). Five records of this PEC were identified in the DPW TEC database search area, none of which are within or adjacent to the project area. However the Abernethy Road site appears likely to represent a previously undocumented occurrence of this PEC.

The condition of the fauna habitat in the project area was severely degraded due to a long history of clearing native vegetation, livestock grazing and weed infestation. The understorey had been completely cleared throughout the site as a result of grazing activities. A database search listed a number of conservation listed birds that could possibly utilise the site but given the degraded nature of the habitat it is unlikely.

Some of the native gums on the site could provide roosting trees for black cockatoos but the lack of foraging habitat on the site makes this unlikely.

It is concluded that the highly degraded condition of the site means there is no flora species of significance on the site and provides little habitat value for fauna including black cockatoos.


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4.5 VISUAL APPEARANCE

The visual appearance and architecture of the development will blend in with the existing rural character of the locality as much as possible. This will involve the buildings resembling standard farm building as much as possible in design, shape and colour. Further, the unique nature of this solar facility being the first in the region has the potential to generate tourist activity, as it becomes an identifiable landmark within the Oakford locality.

There will be considerable amount of vegetation screening around the boundary of the site. This will include shrubs and bushes approximately 2m high, which will screen the facility from passing motorists and nearby residents. It is proposed that there will be a 8m buffer from the property boundary comprising a 4m vegetative buffer of densely planted local native shrubs, then a security fence will be constructed behind the vegetative buffer and will be screened by the vegetation. Inside the fence there will be a 4m wide access track/fire break. A landscape management plan providing an outline of proposed screening is shown in Appendix E.

Along Thomas Road, the buffer will be set back approximately 21m from the existing Thomas Road to allow for future road widenings. A low fence, approximately 1m high, of posts and wire, similar to the existing rural fence will be constructed on the road side of the vegetation.

Around the switchyard buildings there will be higher vegetation planted to screen off the buildings as much as possible from the road. The plantings are expected to be approximately 5m high using local native species.

The solar panels, ground mounted, will be a maximum of approximately 2.1m in height for a short period at the steepest angle of the tracking cycle when the sun is at its lowest point at the beginning and end of the day. For the majority of the time the panels will be below this level. The site is predominately flat, so this will lead to the panels being well screened from view from adjacent roads and houses.

The tourist area will consist of a number of benches and tables. These will be permanent structures fixed in position. The ground surface of the tourist area will be covered with asphalt.

4.6 NOISE

The nature of this development ensures that there is no excess noise generated. There is no noise generated by the panels. The inverters are likely to be the main source of noise and hence will be located at least 300m from residences. Information provided by the supplier (SMA Solar Technology), in Appendix F, shows at this distance the noise level will be below the most stringent allowable noise level of 35 dB(A) set in the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations. It is important to note that the inverters will only be operating during daylight hours when other sources of noise, such as traffic, are likely to be dominant. There will be minimum noise generated from the switchyard area, considerably less than what would be generated from a standard substation.

During construction there will be standard vehicle and machinery noise, similar to a standard land subdivision development site. The work will only be carried out during normal, working hours.


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4.7 GLARE

It is acknowledged that glare is a matter of concern for residents in the vicinity of a solar farm given the large number of PV panels with potentially reflective surfaces. The potential for impact from glare is dependent on the following factors:

The top of the PV panels must be in the observers field of view; and

Panel properties;

For an observer to perceive glare from the panels they must be higher than the panels and in a direct line of site. The boundary of the site will have a vegetative buffer of dense shrubs of 2m-2.5m in height. Behind the vegetation will be a deer fence of 2m height. The combination of the vegetation and the fence will make it unlikely that the panels will be visible to nearby residents or motorists on adjacent roads.

Solar panels are designed to reflect as little light as technically possible (generally around 2% of the light received) in order to maximize their efficiency. The important factor is to allow transmission and absorption of light rather than reflection. Analysis has been carried out to compare the reflectivity of solar PV panels against other surfaces and the results show that solar panels are much less reflective than steel or standard glass and are more comparable to water and grass (see Appendix H). Therefore, glare from the solar farm will not be an issue.

4.8 FIRE SAFETY

A fire safety assessment (Appendix G) has been carried out for the Project and concluded that it has a low risk of a fire starting and if a fire did start from a particular component the fire would be contained and unlikely to spread.

The report examined those components of the solar farm most likely to be the source of a fire. These were the PV panels and the inverter modules including transformers.

The PV panels are regarded as being resistant to ignition from fire brands and if one did ignite, the fire is unlikely to spread to other panels.

There are proposed to be six inverter modules including a transformer to service the PV panel array. Transformers contain mineral oil and are regarded as the highest fire risk of the electrical components on the site. Fire risk in transformers can be reduced by using less flammable oils. If a fire does start the risk can be minimised by siting the inverter module on a bed of gravel to cool and quench the fire and have a separation distance of 4m-6m between the inverter module and other equipment to limit fire spread.

The report also recommends having a water tank on site for use by fire fighters and management of vegetation under the PV panels. WestGen will implement the recommendations of the report.

The project development will comply with Council’s annual Firebreak Notice and Fuel hazard Reduction Notices throughout the construction phase, as well as throughout the life of the project.

A bushfire management plan will be developed prior to operation in consultation with the shire.


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4.9 ODOUR

There will be no odour generated from this facility. The toilet facilities will be maintained as per any standard residential or commercial facilities.

4.10 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY

In Western Australia the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (the Act) is the principal instrument for environmental protection and governs the environmental approvals process. All proposed projects and schemes that may have an impact on the environment are required to be assessed under Part IV of the Act.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has provided confirmation that the Project does not require assessment as no significant environmental impacts or issues have been identified (see Appendix A).The site is on cleared farming land with only sparse remnant vegetation remaining. The panels are not adjacent to any residences, so pose no visual impact. The solar farm will not emit any undesirable pollutants and noise emissions will be minimal.

The Project will be subject to development approval processes under planning legislation through the Shire including public comments. WestGen will engage the local community through a designated information website, public forums, and distributed information pamphlets.

4.11 EPBC ACT

Under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, (“EPBC Act”) an action requires approval from the Federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage if the action has, will have, or is likely to have, a significant impact on a matter of environmental significance. It has been confirmed that the proposed development area does not contain any Declared Rare and Priority Flora or Threatened Ecological Communities. This confirms that the Project will not trigger the EPBC Act. .

4.12 Facility Maintenance

It is expected that there will be no requirement for full time staff to be present on the facility site during operation. WestGen staff will visit the facility approximately 2-3 times per week.

The physical maintenance required on the facility will consist of cleaning of the panels which is expected to take place every 2-3 months. Management of grass underneath the panels is an important consideration during operation given the potential fire risk. The grass between the panels will be maintained at a low level by a combination of machinery and equipment. The option of introducing animals, such as sheep, to maintain the grass level will also be explored, as this would fit into the local rural and agricultural feel of the area.

4.13 Operating Hours

It is expected that the construction of the facility will only take place during normal daylight working hours. This will minimise any impact on neighbouring residents.


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During operation, there will be access to the car park and tourist area only during normal business hours. This area will be properly secured with adequate fencing and gates to prevent people entering outside of business hours. It is also planned to have security cameras covering this area, to again deter trespassers, and hence deter unsociable behaviour.

4.14 Project End-of-Life

The initial life of the solar farm at Byford will be for 13years, which will be the year 2030. It is however expected to be extended. This extension is expected to be for an additional 7years, as this is the usual life warranty of solar panels – 20years. This means the expected life of the project will be until 2037.

As part of the site rehabilitation, all infrastructures (above and below ground) will be removed, allowing agricultural land use activities or other land uses in the area, to resume. This is expected to take approximately 3 months. Non-weedy top soils will be spread over any bare areas of the site, such as at the switchroom / office area and the carpark area. Trenches will be filled such that top soil is placed above subsoil in the trench.

In all areas, in as much as possible, native species that were present prior to disturbance will be used for reseeding. Seed and plantings will be sourced from local province stock. In areas with limited topsoil, hydromulch or imported non-weedy topsoil will be used.


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APPENDICES


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APPENDIX A – ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT AUTHORITY EMAILS


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APPENDIX B – DRAWINGS AND ARTISTIC IMPRESSIONS


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APPENDIX C – FLORA AND FAUNA REPORT


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APPENDIX D – DRAINAGE REPORT


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APPENDIX E – LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT PLAN


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APPENDIX F – NOISE LEVELS OF INVERTERS WITH DISTANCE


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APPENDIX G – FIRE SAFETY ASSESSMENT


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APPENDIX H – GLARE FROM SOLAR PANELS

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B y f o r d S o l a r F a r m

L e v e l 1 F l o r a , V e g e t a t i o n a n d F a u n a A s s e s s m e n t

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P r e p a r e d f o r G r i f f i t h s E n v i r o n m e n t a l o n b e h a l f

o f W e s t G e n P t y L t d

NOVEMBER 2016

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©!One!Tree!Botanical!(2016)! !

©!One!Tree!Botanical!Pty!Ltd!(2016).!Reproduction!of!this!document!in!whole!or!in!part,!by!any!means,!is!strictly!prohibited.!Neither!the!document!nor! its!contents!may!be!referred!to!or!quoted!in!any!form!for!purposes!other!than!stated!in!this!document!without!the!express!approval!of!One!Tree!Botanical,!Griffiths!Environmental!and/or!WestGen.!

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P.O.!Box!118!

MAYLANDS!WA!6931!

Phone:!(08)!9371!9491!

ABN:!15!159!204!976!

Project:!P1609:!WestGen!Byford!Solar!Project!

Version-History:!Draft!1.0!(Issued!25th!November!2016)!

Draft!1.1!(Issued!28th!November!2016)!

Prepared-by:!K.!McCreery,!A.!McCreery!

3.0 site services - planning.wa.gov.au daps/metro east jdap... · design and approval of such...

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