A Lake Hume resident says he regrets selling his property, described as a "bird lover's paradise", to a company that plans to turn it into a battery. / (min cost $ 0 ) or signup to continue reading Foresight Group purchased the property located on 32 Trout Farm Road, Lake Hume Village, from in December 2022. The company plans to build a new battery energy storage system (BESS) with a capacity of up to 74 megawatts and two hours of storage.
"We're obviously extremely disappointed with the way things have turned out," Mr Lucas told "The land is too beautiful to be flattened and turned into a battery." Before Mr Lucas purchased the hobby farm "roughly 20 years ago", it was the residence of Norman and Alison Douglas, who established the Hume Weir Trout Farm. The trout farm was located on what is now a neighbouring property.
"We wouldn't have sold the property to this company if we knew it was going to become a battery," Mr Lucas said. "We looked after the land exceptionally well and it's a magnificent place. "It's got a history about it, and I expect the Douglas (family) are going to be a bit disappointed because it has Alison and Norm's ashes scattered there.
"They were very passionate about it and they wanted to sell it to someone that was going to look after it." Mr Lucas said the property was home to more than 120 bird species. "Each time it's changed hands, it's been advertised as a bird lover's paradise.
And we managed it that way," he said. "There's an ibis rookery and wat.