Cruising around her 215-acre Crediton property in her UTV, with her beloved pooch Snow White in her lap, past trickling springs, lumbering cattle gnawing on blades of grass, and rolling pastures, Mandy Tennent's mind is a world away from her slice of paradise.
With a warm but worried smile and a shadow of dread passing over her face, it's hard to mistake the toll that the looming threat the 5000MW Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro energy storage facility has had upon the residents of Eungella.
"It's just something that you would never, ever imagine would happen to Eungella," the Cloudbreak Lowlines grazier and tour operator said.
"It's just such a beautiful place. I can't say enough about the diversity, the rain-forest, all the creatures that are here, and that's why we all moved here, because we absolutely love it and it's the lifestyle we wanted.
"So to hear that something as absolutely massive as this is being proposed, I just can't believe it."
Ms Tennent and her husband bought the property in 2010 and relocated from Emu Park six years later, bringing with them over 100 head of cattle and agricultural dreams for their two daughters' futures.
For years, the Tennents have bred and sold beef, while operating tours as part of their agri-tourism development.
"We actually hosted a Singaporean agricultural delegation that came across to see how Aussies did things," Ms Tennent said.
"There's no way a tourist will go anywhere near this place ever again.
"At the moment Crediton isn't impacted... but...on the original plans back in the beginning, this area was in some of the mapping for that. So anything is possible.
"There's been some concern that if Reservoir A and Reservoir B don't stack up, they may look here as well.
"No-one knows where the transmission lines are going. Are we going to have these ugly, 200 metre transmission lines running through our properties? Where are all the access roads going to go? Where will the workers camp be? Nobody knows anything and it's just so cruel on everyone, on the community.
"The kids are all impacted. They're feeling mum and dad's stress. It's criminal what they've done to our community."
While Ms Tennent was initially open-minded about the idea, considering the benefits of "green energy", further research quickly dissolved any optimism she had about the project.
She now serves as secretary for the Save Eungella group, and said she has discovered other impending projects for the area, including a wind farm around Eungella dam to power the Pioneer-Burdekin project, a hydrogen electroliser to send offshore, and another "environmentally catastrophic" pumped hydro deal, the Capricornia Energy Hub, set for a private property on Broken River, downstream of Eungella dam.
"The fires (the turbines) are starting...they're putting wind turbines in the Great Barrier Reef. It's a sci-fi disaster," she said.
"What I've learnt in the last 12 months is really sickening - what they're doing to regional Queensland.
"The pumped hydro is nothing without the transmission lines to link it up to everyone. It consumes more power than it makes. It needs a heap of solar panels, it needs wind turbines.
"When you look into the true cost of these transmission lines ... the cement footprint to hold (the turbines) in the ground, the materials to make them, they need six semis in a row (to move them). How much fuel is that using? It's unbelievable. We've been told this great lie.
"I sound like a conspiracy theorist, when 12 months ago I was just a farmer, but my eyes have been opened and I'm terrified of the future for our kids."
On September 28 2022, an "out-of-the-blue" letter in residents' mailboxes changed the tides for many of their futures.
"Really good friends of ours are directly impacted. They are leaving. They've been stalwarts in the community forever, they've run the community groups. They're salt-of-the-earth-type people, and they are so gutted that they can't even face the fight," Ms Tennent said.
"Queensland Hydro has been incredibly reluctant to give any sort of details. Over the last 12 months, we've had to pull information out of them, a bit like pulling teeth.
"The stress in the community is palpable."
Indeed, driving towards the popular tourist town, the community's defiance is clear.
Sign after sign along the road, lining gates, trees, and even the winding range, spell out a clear sentiment - "damn the dam".
The David and Goliath battle is reminiscent of former Premier Anna Bligh's unsuccessful Traveston Crossing Bridge proposal for the Mary River in 2006.
The project was announced to the public via a media release, and quickly sparked contention amongst impassioned advocate group, Save Our Mary River.
The group engaged Environmental Defence Office lawyers to take up the three-year battle.
Under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992, permits can be issued for activities that would harm native fauna if the activity is considered to be in the public interest or there are no feasible alternatives.
The project was eventually canned in November 2009, after Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett rejected the dam due to the impact on threatened species, including the Mary River turtle and the Australian lungfish.
While the platypus is not considered endangered in Queensland, graziers Robert and Robyn Burns believe the dam could spell disaster for the beloved critters that are a must-see item on the list of eagle-eyed tourists.
The couple have been stalwarts of the Eungella community for 46 years, operating Eungelladale Dairy and building the Broken River Retreat before retiring.
For them, the potential loss of the duck-billed marsupials they once cared for alongside rangers, is hard to imagine.
"We've estimated with a good degree of accuracy there are about 200 within the footprint for Reservoirs A and B. There's probably no way they can be relocated successfully," Mr Burns said.
According to the couple, moving the critters to another location would be fruitless, given their territorial nature and the limited food supply to cater for population groups.
And those that can't be tracked down would be impacted by drills pounding into granite, sending shock waves that will kill the platypuses through their sensitive bills.
"In a lot of places as I understand it, the reservoir edge will be right where the national park is and such a big reservoir is going to have flow-on impacts to the surrounding lands," Mr Burns said.
"(The CEO of Powerlink was on FourCorners saying that) it's so much cheaper, so much easier, so much quicker to use batteries. I've been at Queensland Hydro ever since they started...about having everybody's house set up with solar panels and a battery so you generate the electricity during the day, store it in the battery and the battery discharges at night for you to use and that's doable. Our son's house here works like that, he doesn't need to be connected to the grid. It's an easy thing to do.
"I'm sure decarbonisation of Queensland and Australia can be achieved without massive pumped hydro schemes like this. They're yesterday's technology in my view. If you do a bit of research on it, it's pretty clear that it is.
"To me, the premier wants to be a hero at the Olympic games and say 'we've got the world biggest hydro scheme, aren't we great?' And I just don't think it's worth it."
The couple have a clear message - "save the planet...but don't make green hydrogen by destroying Eungella".
Buoyed by their own research into the project, the pair are adamant that the project will forever change their peaceful, picturesque town, and said the long-term costs have been an afterthought.
"They never add on the transmission costs, the infrastructure, they never talk about the damage from the transmission lines," Mrs Burns said.
Their friends and fellow graziers have been offered their property value plus a bonus to vacate their home, however there are others standing firm, refusing to leave, despite being told their next offer may not be so generous.
"There's one property that's 700-odd acres, and he's put an awful lot of work in the last five to six years he's owned it in terms of carbon sequestration with soils and that sort of stuff. Best grazing land practise like we do here. That's all going to be lost," Mr Burns said.
A pained look crosses Mrs Burns' face as she looks out towards the forest encapsulating the back veranda of their beautiful red cedar wood home.
"They purchased that property for their retirement...she has never set foot back on that property...it broke her heart," she said, choking up.
"(That land is going to be) a dam wall."
According to Queensland Hydro's online fact sheet about the project, "the Queensland government announced $35 million of funding in June 2022, to identify a second site, in addition to the Borumba project announced in June 2021".
In July 2023, Queensland Hydro began undertaking technical geological, hydrological and ecological investigations to present to the Queensland government for approval.
If approved, Queensland Hydro will conduct further studies, including an Environmental Impact Statement to secure environmental approvals.
"The reservoir ecosystem would be modified from a flowing riverine system to a standing water body. The reservoirs would be subject to regular fluctuations in water levels when the hydropower system was in operation," the website read.
"The range of species present in the reservoirs is likely to change due to the altered conditions. Further assessment will be provided as part of the Detailed Analytical Report and Environmental Impact Statement to better understand likely impacts to individual species."
While the public outcry is evident, Member for Mackay Julieanne Gilbert said land holders of the properties which will be "inundated by the pools of water" have been contacted by Queensland Hydro to address their needs, and whether they can be compensated for their properties.
"(The project) has to go through all the regulatory frameworks...the environmental impact statements will need to be done, also the cultural impact statements so tenders have gone out for those," Ms Gilbert said.
"People who are concerned about any of the wildlife will be able to see these reports once they're finalised. Aboriginal groups are doing cultural surveys of the land and we have environmental scientists who are doing the impact of what flora and fauna there may be in that area.
"There are also tenders out for the drilling down into the mountain to see what there is deep underground. These tunnels will be about 750 metres underground. You won't actually see them from the top. The only thing you will see is the three pools of water."
Ms Gilbert rebuked comparisons to the Snowy 2.0 project which has seen a budget blow out since its inception.
"(That's) a very different project. The Snowy project 2.0 is about 25km long. This project will be about 4.5km and that's what will make it the biggest and the best and the amount of power it will generate."
"It's becoming more and more expensive to run coal-powered power stations and it's not the best for the environment. We need to drag ourselves into the 21st and 22nd century, where we have green renewable energy which will cater for the needs for Queenslanders to come.
"There's winners and losers. I certainly understand the position of families who need to make the decision in the future.
"I know if someone said to me, 'we need your house and property to build something and you need to think of where to go', it would be difficult and emotional. So I certainly understand where the families are coming from.
"The economic benefit of having $30bn spent in the Mackay-Whitsunday region is huge, and the flow-on effect in our community would be absolutely phenomenal for the future.
"There are also a lot of businesses tapping on the door around Mackay, now looking for industrial land to set up businesses. They want their businesses close to green power, so when they go to overseas markets they can say they have green stock...and they can say our factories are in the biggest green-powered plant in the world.
"International companies will see the benefit of setting up in Queensland."
Queensland Hydro was contacted for comment but did not reply before publication.
