We stumbled on the campsite at Lake Liddell quite serendipitously after driving up the Putty Road to Muswellbrook. Some people make bookings for Easter weekend a year in advance. I’m not that person. We look at the map on Thursday evening and figure out which roads we take to discover campsites we haven’t stopped at previously.
On the drive here we also discovered a cafe with a lovely free campsite on the Putty Road but more on that later. Muswellbrook is virtually on our doorstep. Australia is a big country. A three hour drive north feels like you haven’t even left home yet.
Lake Liddell was built to cool the power station that was built here more than 50 years ago. At the time of completion in the early seventies, the Liddell Power Station was the most powerful generating station in Australia. It was also the first major power station built in NSW that used fresh water unlike the coastal stations that used salt water.
Our unpowered campsite is right on the lake. Despite being Easter, there is plenty of room here. The serenity is palpable and I am already unwinding from life in Sydney. But the natural beauty and abundant bird life hides a few secrets. Some years back, swimming. boating and fishing was banned, when they discovered a naturally occurring amoeba that causes Amoebic Meningitis which can be fatal. Many heavy metals have also leached into the lake. The closure dealt a crushing blow to the campsite. While I am not sure how this brain eating amoeba came to be, I read that it thrives in warm water. Perhaps another example of how we are impacting the environment around us.
In a sign of the times, this power station is now in the process of being demolished. From our campsite, we can see the scaffolding enveloping the remaining structures. It was good to read that most of the materials from this site will be recycled and that planning approval has already been granted for a 500MW/2GWh grid-scale battery. Because AGL announced Liddell’s planned closure many years in advance, its output has been replaced by new generation from renewable sources like wind and solar.
I find myself reaching for my camera often on trips like this—not just to capture the beauty of a quiet lake at sunset, but to document the spaces caught between what they once were and what they are becoming. Photography feels like a small act of bearing witness: to landscapes in flux, to industries winding down, to communities grappling with change. Years from now, when the power station is gone and the lake takes on new meanings, these images will serve as a reminder that change, even when invisible day-to-day, is always unfolding around us.
Despite public perceptions that coal is a reliable source of power, Liddell’s reliable baseload power has been anything but. There have been many shutdowns at Liddell. The closure of ageing power stations like Liddell marks the next steps in energy transition for our country.
The debate surrounding energy has been key in this election campaign. Perhaps it might even come to define it. The site at Liddell is one that Peter Dutton has flagged for a nuclear power plant. There are many reasons why nuclear is not the solution for the future besides the fact we have a moratorium on nuclear at both the state and federal government levels in Australia. From the huge costs involved which will need to be publicly funded by tax payers, to the long timelines for installation to many environmental concerns by the communities here…we can and must certainly do better.
The lobby group 'Don’t Nuke The Climate' has produced detailed maps of what a Chernobyl-style accident would look like at a proposed Liddell site in the Hunter (see image). The organisation says that about 35,000 people will need to be evacuated if we have an equivalent disaster here. The Albanese government is spruiking massive renewable energy project for the future of this region.
From our campsite on this quiet lakeside, I reflect on endings, transitions, and what we choose next. We’ve had unseasonably warm weather over Easter but there’s a storm on the distant horizon. I don’t have a finger on the pulse of people in this area but from what I have read, the communities here are divided.
Historically, NSW coal country has been labour heartland. Sadly the conversation about climate change and what is best for our future is not an easy one to have. Will it decide the fate of the next election? Only time will tell.