Letters to the editor, The Daily Advertiser, June 29

Has council created a few temporary jobs for locally unemployed people by giving them a pad, pencil and area map and sent them off on foot? Nope, it's been tendered out to a contractor - presumably using all-electric quaddies.

While they're out and about, the path-patrol could at least recoup council its costs by reporting back on cars parked across footpaths.

Forcing wheelchairs, prams and strollers into the traffic is surely just as dangerous as the crazy-paving that passes as sidewalk in Wagga and each fine is a couple of hundred dollars. The loud "katching!" you just heard was the sound of someone in council reading that last sentence.

Golly, I can even point them in the direction of one household whose residents have mistaken the entirety of the foot-track and verge (gutter to gate, as one says) as a dry dock for their boat. And don't bother guessing, it's nowhere near the lake or river and it's a moot point whether the boat has ever seen water other than rain for at least several months.

With 32 renewable energy zones planned, Australia is set to undergo a transformation. However, there is considerable opposition to the large-scale projects planned and at the launch of his new book, Powering Up, former chief scientist Alan Finkel said consultation with landowners and affected communities must improve.

But some farmers realise its potential. At the fourth annual National Renewables in Agriculture Conference recently in Dubbo, a tour was conducted to the farm of Tom Warren. Warren believes farmers can play a greater role in decarbonising the grid and has shown that grazing merino sheep under solar panels is beneficial. Carrying capacity increased by 15 per cent and wool quality and quantity improved. In drought, dew drips from the panels created green strips of grass, and in summer the panels provided shade.

Farming under raised panels is known as agrivoltaics. Crops that benefit from partial shade do better in the microclimate under the panels. Machinery is working under raised panels to harvest crops.

A US survey found that 82 per cent of rural respondents are more likely to support solar development in their community when integrated with farming.

Agrivoltaics in Australia would overcome the concern about losing agricultural land. It would increase yield, save money on farm power bills, add another income stream, and reduce emissions. The government must support farmers to get into it.

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