Conflicted Mount Alexander Shire councillors approve solar bid in Ravenswood South

Mount Alexander's council has approved a planning permit for the Ravenswood South farm capable of powering 40,000 homes.

Shire officers previously urged councillors to approve the bid on productive farmland because of escalating demands for renewable energy and the challenges finding suitable sites.

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A number of councillors felt torn by the decision even as they threw their weight behind the solar project at a meeting on Tuesday night.

Mayor Tony Cordy has farmed land near the Hokins Road site for more than 30 years and said the loss would be felt given there were likely only five viable farms between Harcourt and Bendigo.

"I know there's a lot of support from the community for investment in these technologies but it is a concern for me in terms of taking out a large chunk of agricultural production," he said.

Councillor Stephen Gardner said the shire was yet to resolve tensions between farmland and solar panels despite issues that arose on earlier projects.

"It hasn't been answered. We are going to have one in Baringhup which is using what I would consider to be prime farmland," he said, referring to a separate facility capable of powering 34,000 households each year.

"Having said that, this is a big facility that will be good for the shire. It's going to create 200 jobs during construction and many ongoing."

Councillor William McClure said he too had felt compelled to carefully weigh up the loss of farmland but said in the end the right decision was clear.

"Moving forward on our issues with climate change, it's not much of a decision to say one far outweighs the other, in my view," he said.

Cr Gardner said most of the objections to the proposal centred on noise, which council officers believed would be within acceptable levels.

"There's a lot of work that has gone into this [development application]. There's a cultural heritage plan, there's a wildlife management plan, there's lots of plans for it," he said.

Also on Tuesday night, the council approved plans for an 11-lot subdivision in Castlemaine that attracted 20 objections including over concerns about noise and traffic.

Developers can now build the lots on 1.4 hectares of land in Watson Street and the council's traffic engineers had no concern about traffic.

The council believes landscaping would be a buffer against noise.

Cr McClure said the council had met with objectors and taken on board some of their feedback.

He said the proposal was reasonable and that some lots would be small enough to meet some of the demand for cheaper housing with less of a footprint.