Council
26 September, 2024
Shire to continue engagement committees
MOYNE Shire Council will continue to host wind farm Community Engagement Committees (CECs) in a bid to ensure the community has a seat at the table when the government approves renewable energy projects.
After undertaking a review of the CECs, as required at the end of the current council term, a recommendation was put before council at last week’s Special Meeting of Council which proposed a 12-month transition of CECs to an external stakeholder such as Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) or the wind farm proponent.
Cr Daniel Meade proposed an alternate motion to extend the continuation of council’s facilitation of, and participation in, wind farm CECs with further review no later than two years.
“I thank all the CEC participants who were involved in the survey,” he said.
“We take on board all their comments, and while at times, depending on the CEC, how effective they can be, the majority of the respondents were keen to see them continue.
“I have to admit I have some views that the granter of the permit, which is DEECA, have a stronger involvement than what they do but, unfortunately, I can’t see that eventuating.
“In the meantime, I’m happy for us to continue basically carrying on as we are.”
Cr Jordan Lockett seconded the alternative motion, noting the importance of CECs.
“Sometimes they can be tricky, and we have lots of opinions which are represented on them, but we talk about having a seat at the table and this is a direct way the community can have a seat at the table,” he said.
“Often, a lot of the wind farms are at different stages and they have different complexities so each CEC is very unique and different.
“I think they serve an important function, so we do need to adapt and overcome as we go.
“They still serve a purpose.”
Cr Jim Doukas thanked Cr Meade for raising the alternative motion, saying the recommendation put forward was something he could not have supported.
“I’m a great believer in community consultation, and the alternate motion allows the CECs to continue in the present form, even if it means being reviewed in the next two years,” he said.
“The new council coming forward will need time to find out what’s going on.
“The CECs would be disbanded and would be seeking new members, or maybe old members want to renominate, and this will give us a little bit of breathing space.
“It gives a little bit of guidance going forward to the new councillors and give surety to the CECs that they won’t be neglected and ignored.”
Cr Karen Foster said she was supporting the motion, but acknowledged it was with some reservation.
“When you read this report it’s pretty clear there are mixed views among both councillors and the CEC members, which suggests to me that we could be doing a better job,” she said.
“The model’s not perfect - there are some problems with it but, rather than just disband altogether, this gives us some breathing space to look at what’s not working well and how we could better serve the needs of our community.
“I don’t think any of us would disagree community engagement is paramount – it’s just how we do it, and where we do it, that matters.
“It’s certainly not about disregarding community engagement, that’s crucial, but it’s how we do it and maybe we could be doing it even better.”
The alternative motion received unanimous support.
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