A new 7ha solar farm is being proposed for the corner of the Captain Cook Highway and Killaloe Dump Road between Port Douglas and Mossman on a parcel of land next door to Vic’s Nursery.

At this week’s full council meeting, Douglas Shire Council councillors eventually voted to support the farm project in principle, as long as a series of planning requests are met, but the plan has prompted debate about how prime farming land should be used in the wake of the closure of the Mossman Mill and the transition away from sugar-cane farming.

Council staff previously wrote to landowners J and V Noli stating there were concerns about building a solar farm on the main road between the two towns when tourism was so important to the region.

“The development is considered a visual intrusion on the landscape,” the letter stated.

“Even with vegetation screening, to all boundaries, the vistas of the area will be imposed upon. 

“Any development of a large solar panel installation on the ground needs to be away from scenic vistas and mapped scenic routes.”

A report tabled in this week’s full council meeting about the solar-farm proposal stated that the Shire had a “limited, narrow strip of agricultural land” mainly located between the coast and the Great Dividing Range.

“With the recent closure of the Mossman Mill concern is held with the agriculture futures for local farmers,” the report stated. 

“Nevertheless, the agricultural land within the Shire is generally good quality… and needs to be maintained in sufficiently sized lots.”

But Mayor Lisa Scomazzon and Cr Michael Rees both spoke at the council meeting in favour of building the solar farm, with Mayor Scomazzon saying the region may have to be more open to other forms of land use now the mill had closed.

“Everything’s up in the air at the moment, we don’t know if we’ve got an industry here at the moment with agriculture, so we need to maybe open up a little bit to allow new industry in the Shire,” she said.