A cosy fire and a private room in Australia’s one and only ‘Kangaroo Hotel’, was the setting for the MASH2 info meeting on Tuesday 14 July, 2015. With just a handful of people registered in advance, the organisers weren’t sure how many people would brave the bitter cold evening to come along to hear about the MASH2 community solar bulk-buy offer in Maldon. So at 10 minutes to 7pm, when more seats were needed, Jo Kaptein, Project Officer for MASH2 started to get the feeling that this meeting was going to prove popular. And this proved correct. In all around 40 people came with some having the patience and good humour to stand or perch on the arms of sofas. Dips and nibbles provided by MASH2, plus free wine and beer for early entrants helped to create a lovely informal atmosphere.
Solar already popular in Maldon
Already 22% of homes in Maldon have solar rooftops. This is impressive and compares favourably with Castlemaine at 23% and larger towns like Kyneton and Woodend at 16%. It is also impressive given that many of the homes in Maldon are in a heritage overlay and/or on the Victorian Heritage Register. If a home is in a heritage overlay, the homeowner will need a planning permit from Council* (at just over $100) if the panels will be visible from a street or from a public park. In these situations, the solar installer will look for an alternative location for the panels that isn’t street facing. If your property is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, you must approach Heritage Victoria for a heritage permit.
Some owners of heritage homes prefer to have the panels located on a roofline that isn’t street facing purely for aesthetic reasons – but there again others want to proudly display them on the front. Everyone is different! This is a situation where the free home visit from a MASH2 installer proves valuable as the homeowner can talk through the options with someone who is highly knowledgeable and can advise on the different solar output that will be generated with panels on different roof locations (ie east/west v.s. north).
And a big thankyou to Adam at the Kangaroo Hotel
It was great to have the support of Adam Schmidt, Owner of the Kangaroo Hotel in Maldon. Adam provided the venue for free and kindly let the MASH2 team put up the MASH2 banner on his hotel frontage which no doubt was one of the reasons why the event was so well attended. Thank you Adam!
*If your house is in a Heritage Overlay, you will need a planning permit if the panels will be visible from a street, or from a public park. If the works are under $10,000 the cost for a permit is $102, and the permit may take up to 60 days.
