Herald 20220920

CARNIVAL OF FLOWERS PARADE PICTORIAL 2022 - Ann Lomas photos
Oakey Chamber of Commerce
Decorated bike rider
Scouts - Grand champion float
BE Power looks at Crows Nest for potential off-set land
PLANNED HYDRO SCHEME FOR CRESSBROOK
After concerns about land clearing for the upcoming
development of the pumped hydro energy
storage facility at Cressbrook, BE Power stakeholder
and business development manager Troy
Philpot said BE Power would endeavour to remediate
local land.
BE Power has applied to clear 150ha of land
that would be deemed as off-set.
"The area to be cleared includes 60ha of old
regrowth farmland on top of the ridge, all of the
road easement that would require widening, and
clearing from BE Power’s property on Sebastapool
Road to the Cressbrook waterline.
Concerns were raised on social media that the
project would displace many native species on the
land.
Mr Philpot said the Federal Government would
give BE Power a multiplier of off-set land that the
company would have to procure for the life of the
project and have professionally managed and improved.
“The off-sets that we have to buy have to be in
the Brisbane River Catchment because the project
is in the catchment. We’re currently having
conversations about getting local off-sets around
QCWA centenary float Toowoomba Regional Council entry - Sean White photos page 6
Crows Nest and the project area because we think
that will be better from a community perspective.”
Mr Philpot said it was likely that BE Power
would have to procure up to three or four times
the amount of land that was cleared for the off-set.
“The Federal Government will give us a multiplier
and we have to find that land to have access
to for up to 80 years before construction begins for
those off-sets,” he said.
“There will be remediation work on the laydown
areas which aren’t big, when you have a
60ha for a dam, you have a 60ha dam.
“The idea that we’re working on is that we’re
going to try and stay within a reasonable range of
Crows Nest.
"We’ve spoken to environmentalists and asked
them to nominate properties that people might be
interested in selling.
“We might be a willing buyer if the price is reasonable
that we can give them. We don’t want to
rip them off but they might want to sell to us to
stop it from being a development target.”
It has been estimated that work on the project
to begin at the end of 2023 or the first quarter of
2024. - Sean White BE Power looks to build a hydro energy storage at Cressbrook Dam
Garth
HAMILTON
Federal Member for Groom
516 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba QLD 4350 07 4632 4144
garth.hamilton.mp@aph.gov.au
garthhamilton.com.au
Authorised by G. Hamilton, Liberal National Party of Queensland, 516 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba QLD 4350.
4 - HIGH COUNTRY HERALD - SEPTEMBER 20, 2022
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