Council
15 May, 2024
Moyne establishes renewable advocacy strategy
MOYNE Shire Council has established its advocacy strategies in response to the proposed development of an offshore wind farm, after a recent survey with more than 200 responses provided clarity on the wants of the community.
Mayor Ian Smith said there were 242 responses to the survey which gave members of the community an opportunity to respond to the recently declared offshore wind zone, and their wants for council advocacy.
The survey found 90.6 per cent of the 234 respondents were not in support of the Southern Ocean Offshore Wind Zone.
In response to what investment or benefits respondents wanted to see in the shire if offshore wind is developed, 10.1 per cent wanted discounted power for Moyne residents, 9.1 per cent wanted investment in community infrastructure such as roads, footpaths and halls, 5.3 per cent wanted investment focussed in coastal communities and one per cent wanted investment in worker housing projects.
The largest percentage of respondents (40.9 per cent) indicated all of the above, while 33.7 per cent voted in favour of other.
Cr Smith said while Moyne Shire Council was not a decision maker on any developments, it can play an important role in advocating for community benefits from any wind farm development offshore from Moyne Shire.
“The Federal Government will have the final say if a development goes ahead – they control the waters where any offshore wind farms will be built – so council’s role in this is advocacy,” he said.
The motion before council to establish the advocacy position was passed at the recent Ordinary Meeting of Council following a contentious vote, with the motion passed 4-3, with Cr Jim Doukas, Cr James Purcell and Cr Daniel Meade voting against.
Cr Smith said as a result the information collected would be passed on to Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio.
“In situations where you don’t have decision making authority, you have to go in with the view of how to get the best result possible for the community,” he said.
“We will go to the table with what our community has told us to focus on in terms of advocacy.”
The motion before council was moved by Cr Karen Foster, and seconded by Cr Jordan Lockett.
Cr Foster said she would be supporting the motion as she believed a balanced approach would maximise the opportunity for the community to benefit from a potential development, feeling a hard-line stance against development had previously resulted in council being “locked out of discussions” altogether.
“Council is not the decision maker; however, we do have a role to play as a conduit between the communities we are elected to represent and the people who are responsible for making decisions,” she said.
“I think we’ve also got a critical leadership role in ensuring if this development does go ahead, and again it won’t be for us to decide that, but we can at least advocate to maximise the benefits for our communities.
“They’re ultimately going to bear the brunt of whatever development does or does not take place.”
Cr Daniel Meade spoke against the motion, raising concerns it did not go far enough.
“My own opinion is it is not quite strong enough for what I’d like to see based on what I’ve heard from the community survey,” he said.
“We’ve had a position for some years for on-shore wind that we’d like the government to pause the issue of any permits until some of our concerns are addressed, and I don’t believe those concerns have been addressed yet.
“I would basically like to extend that to offshore wind, and my own opinion is to not support not any off-shore wind development until it can be shown Moyne Shire and its residents are going to receive some benefit.
“That hasn’t happened yet.”
With the motion successful, Moyne’s official declaration specifies Moyne will advocate for community concerns cited as negative impacts of such development including landscape and views, marine flora and fauna, fishing industry, local economy and transmission infrastructure.
Moyne Shire Council will advocate to be engaged during the feasibility and all subsequent licencing stages for the zone, and to seek firm commitments for community investment, including:
In addition, Moyne Shire Council will advocate for local employment initiatives, funding programmes for local coastal environmental sustainability, investment in community infrastructure, discounted power rates for Moyne Shire residents, initiatives and offsets that respond to climate emergency and address climate change, initiatives to boost the Moyne Shire economy.