"Benalla and its surrounding villages will continue to support clean, renewable energy with Benalla Rural City Council giving planning permission to another solar farm project - in Winton.  

John Mills, a consultant working on behalf of Lightsource Development, the company proposing the facility, presented a plan to the Benalla Rural City Council Planning and Development Committee on Wednesday.  He told council that if all goes well they plan to start construction next year.

The facility, which will be built at 116 Lee Road in Winton, will consist of 42,108 solar panels, which track the sun's movement throughout the day.

The 15 megawatt solar farm is cited to provide enough electricity for 2300 homes.

The site will alos house eight inverters, nine transformers and eight batteries housed in a secure structure.  

The planning permission includes the removal of five large native trees, however it also avoids areas of vegetation and habitat identified within ecological and biodiversity assessment reports.
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With several solar farms planned for the Benalla Rural City Council area these decisions are going a long way to creating a cleaner, greener future for local people."

Informative posters on display in the room have been made available to REB by Urbis for further information:  

The following morning REB committee members including John Lloyd and Peter Maddock met with Kristi  and members of her team at a breakfast meeting to find out more about the proposal and share a community perspective. 
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Other resources:   
Lightsource BP 
Information Sheets about the Lightsource BP Solar Farm Proposal. 
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