Australia’s largest state farming organisation, NSW Farmers, is calling for a temporary ban on the construction of new large-scale solar farms in the state, amid concerns developers are not acting in the long-term interests of regional communities.

In a motion passed at the Association’s 2023 annual conference last week, NSW Farmers agreed to call on the state Labor government to place a moratorium on large scale solar developments until “planning deficiencies” around plant decommissioning and remediation are addressed.

“Current planning and approval provisions for large scale solar energy facilities do not take into account the long-term interests of agricultural land, rural communities and the rural landscape following the ‘decommissioning’ of the facility,” notes on the motion say.

“Agricultural land, rural communities and rural landscapes are at risk in the future and there should be no further development approvals granted until these planning deficiency issues have been fully addressed.”

To address these concerns, NSW Farmers wants the state government to set up a fund for upfront remediation payment obligations on developers, owners and land holders, such as sometimes used in the mining industry.

The association also wants the Minns government to ensure planning approval requires the developer and owner of the solar farm to remove all materials taken onto the site.

The call from NSW Farmers follows a recent warning from Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, Andrew Dyer, that landowners may wind up lumbered with responsibility for cleaning up renewable power projects at the end of their lives, by default.

“It’s no different to you owning the milk bar, as a commercial landlord down the main street in town,” Dyer told a Senate estimates hearing in May. “If the tenant defaults and leaves the building you’re stuck with the bain-marie.

“So it’s up to the landlord to make sure that they … get a really good contract in place, and you get the appropriate bond set-ups to cover the costs.”