Wednesday,2 April 2025
Adjournment
Cooba solar project
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Cooba solar project
Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:34): (1570) My adjournment action is for the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events. I seek that he meet with the Colbinabbin Renewable Action Group to discuss their concerns over the tourism and economic impact of the Cooba solar proposal. Tourism is the economic heartbeat of many of our regional communities. It brings visitors, supports small business, creates local jobs and drives long-term investment. In Colbinabbin, nestled in the Mount Carmel range, locals have spent decades building a future based on wine, food, nature, art and tourism. It is now a sought-after destination, proudly dubbed the ‘up-and-coming Barossa Valley’, I am told, with over 60 wineries.
That vision is under serious threat. The Victorian government is considering a proposal for the Cooba solar farm, a 665-hectare industrial facility equivalent to the size of 415 MCGs. The site, right in the heart of Colbinabbin’s wine and tourism precinct, would host more than 700,000 solar panels, a substation and hundreds of battery installations, some the size of shipping containers. Families like the Davies, who operate Colbinabbin Estate, have invested years into building a vineyard that does not just produce award-winning wines but draws people from all over Victoria. Just across the road they now face the prospect of losing their views, their microclimate and potentially their business. Nearby, long-term residents Claire and Peter Tuohey have expressed their heartbreak over the destruction of the scenic rural landscapes and the risk it poses to local tourism and agriculture. Their story is echoed by dozens of others, including captain Christopher Ryan at the Colbinabbin CFA, who has warned that if fire broke out at the solar farm local brigades could not safely respond. These are not abstract concerns; they are real, immediate and being raised in good faith.
You do not need to be from Colbinabbin to understand what is at stake. This is a community that has done everything right – investing in agriculture, hospitality and tourism, creating jobs and drawing visitors. Their efforts have turned a quiet township into a vibrant emerging destination. To now have that progress threatened by an industrial-scale energy facility, one that would dominate the landscape and undermine the visitor experience, is unacceptable. It risks undoing decades of work and sends a troubling message to regional communities. We must protect and promote Victoria’s visitor economy, and that means defending the integrity of every region that makes our state attractive to tourists.