Wellington is a beautiful agricultural district, not far from Orange, one of NSW’s celebrated food and wine destinations. The surrounding countryside supports productive farms, grazing enterprises and families with deep connections to their land. Outback Astronomy has sourced wines from Orange for years. We know the area well and are concerned about what this small community is now facing: a proposed 500 MW industrial energy storage facility, developed by the same company behind the Silver City Energy Storage project near Outback Astronomy in Broken Hill.
Our support for the Wellington community is about giving this small regional town a fair go. It is not about supporting renewables or fossil fuels, or denying that Australia’s energy grid is in trouble and needs more storage.
We support fair development assessment processes. Communities and residents are entitled to receive transparent information about developments that affect them.
For us, the scale, character and proximity of the proposed development only became clear when we examined its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2023. This was despite several years of community consultation. We then faced the difficult task of understanding extensive technical documentation within a four-week exhibition period.
Even now, in November 2026, we still hear Broken Hill people talking about the development being located on a mine site at the end of its life, Potosi Mine. However, the main surface infrastructure is located on the greenfield Flying Doctor lead and zinc deposit, across the highway from Outback Astronomy, rather than within the Potosi Mine.
Wellington families should be able to understand what may be built near their properties, the likely construction hours, blasting, drilling, traffic, water requirements and long-term impacts on farming and rural life. However, details available to the community at this time are scant. Some residents who wrote to Hydrostor for information told us their letters remained unanswered three months later, as at late October 2026.
Hydrostor’s Wellington EIS has not yet been published on the NSW Planning Portal. When it is published, there will be a limited period to examine the documentation. The Broken Hill EIS documentation included 1,500 pages of technical details.
You don’t need to live in Wellington to make a difference. You can help by raising awareness, contacting elected representatives, sharing information or offering your expertise to local residents preparing for the EIS. You can register for notifications on the NSW Planning Portal project page to be alerted when the project EIS is published. For a small sum, subscribe to the Wellington Leader for news and updates as they occur.
Small tourism businesses should not have to seek stronger protections through Land and Environment Court proceedings when, in our view, those protections should have been included in the original approval. We hope Wellington residents receive more timely information than we did.
Photograph: The lush grazing paddocks near Wellington, where a compressed air energy storage facility is proposed. Image by Nat Barton, Wellington.
A fair go for Wellington Wellington is a beautiful agricultural district, not far from Orange, one of NSW’s celebrated food and wine destinations. The surrounding countryside supports productive farms, grazing enterprises and families with deep
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PLUS Ticket Inclusions
– Seating – reclined chair
– Sleeping Bag (in cooler months)
– Loan of an audio unit
– Optics suitable for the event*
– Side table
– Food and beverage service
Extras at Time of Booking
– Ear phones (or bring your own)
– Hot chocolate
– Options for other food, drinks
* Varies according to conditions.
** Only used in reclined chairs.
Standard Ticket Inclusions
– Seating
– Loan of an audio unit
– Optics suitable for the event*
Extras at Time of Booking
– Ear phones (or bring your own)
– Hot chocolate
– Reclined chair
– Reclined chair, sleeping bag**
– Options for other food, drinks
* Varies according to conditions.
** Only used in reclined chairs.
We use an audio system in most of our sky shows.
You should remember to bring your 3.5mm round plug/jack earphones – or you can purchase some when making an online booking if they are required for your event.
The following earphone connectors are not suitable – flat-style Apple Lightning, USB, Bluetooth or WiFi.
