Businesses in Glenrowan are putting up “No Nioka Solar” signs to show their opposition to the project.
Community opposition to the proposed Nioka Solar project at Glenrowan West has hardened following drop-in sessions held last month, with residents and a state MP raising fresh concerns about the project's scale and the adequacy of consultation.
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Nioka Solar, a proposed 250 megawatt solar and battery storage project on Jonathan and Rosie Koop’s 404-hectare property south-west of Glenrowan, held two community drop-in sessions at the Vintage Hall Cafe in Glenrowan on June 23.
Organisers were told to expect up to 200 attendees, who heard from Nioka Solar’s Jonathan Koop and representatives from consulting firm Umwelt, which is assisting with the project’s consultation.
Opposition group No Nioka Solar said attendees were given three maps and told the project remained in early stages, with reports and assessments still under way.
No timeline has been set, and time is running out before the application goes to the minister in Q3.
Spokesperson Libby Foubister said the sessions ran as one-on-one conversations with consultants rather than an open forum, so attendees could not hear each other’s questions.
Opponents argue the project cannot be assessed in isolation, saying government guidelines calling for adequate space between solar developments to avoid cumulative impacts have not been applied to the area's concentration of projects.
A petition opposing the project, sponsored by Legislative Council member for Northern Victoria Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, has collected more than 800 paper and 470 online signatures within a week.
It calls on the council to reject the project, remove the eastern Central North REZ section from the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, and block developments in bushfire-prone areas.
Ms Tyrrell said she had no hesitation sponsoring the petition, and said the Glenrowan West community’s views had been “completely ignored”.
“Since being elected in 2022, I have continuously fought against our prime agricultural land being used for renewable energy projects,” she said.
“Like the majority of these unwanted projects, claims of thorough community consultation are just a farce,” she said.
“Agricultural land should be for farming the great foods in the country.”
A representative for Nioka Solar was contacted for comment.
Umwelt told Country News that the developer was away and not available to respond.
Businesses in Glenrowan are putting up “No Nioka Solar” signs to show their opposition to the project.
