This piece by Tony Goodfellow was published in The Weekly Times on 10 June.
The declaration of Victoria’s Renewable Energy Zones is a test of whether better planning can deliver a better deal for regional communities.
Across regional Victoria, communities are seeing more projects, more transmission planning and more pressure on landholders. There is frustration, mistrust and anxiety in many places. Some of that concern is driven by misinformation. Some of it is driven by very real experiences of poor engagement, unclear processes and communities feeling decisions are being made around them rather than with them.
That cannot be waved away. But the answer is not to abandon planning. It is to plan better.
If Victoria wants regional communities to engage with the renewable energy rollout, people need clear rules, honest information and a real say in what happens next.
The Victorian Government has now declared five onshore Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), for offshore wind connections in Gippsland. A proposed REZ in the Central North will go through further consultation.
For people living in or near a REZ, this does not mean every property will host infrastructure. It does not bypass planning or environmental approvals. Landholders still choose whether or not to host wind, solar or battery projects on their land.
What it does mean is that their region has been identified as one of the places where Victoria is likely to see more renewable energy development over time.
That is a big deal. It is also why the way this is handled matters so much.
At their best, Renewable Energy Zones can help communities by giving them a clearer picture of where development is likely to happen. They can help coordinate projects, reduce unnecessary infrastructure, set clearer expectations for developers and bring more order to a rollout that otherwise risks feeling chaotic and developer-led.
They are not a silver bullet. They will not remove every impact or resolve every disagreement. But they are a chance to move from a contested, project-by-project rollout to a more planned transition.
The next test is whether that planned transition delivers real benefit for regional communities.
Community benefit has to mean more than the arrangements needed to get individual projects built. For regional communities, the conversation needs to be much bigger: local energy projects, housing, training, shared infrastructure, First Nations priorities, co-ownership models and long-term community funds that are locally led and respond to local needs
This is why the forthcoming Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines matter. These rules will set expectations for how new renewable energy projects deliver on engagement, social value and economic benefits for communities, landholders and Traditional Owners.
If done well, they can lift standards across the sector and give communities a stronger basis to negotiate for practical, lasting benefits. That should include clear requirements for developers to show how community input has shaped project decisions, prevent the misuse of non-disclosure agreements, support Traditional Owner priorities, enable co-ownership and plan properly for the end of a project’s life.
Finally, this matters because the REZ declaration is not the end of the process. VicGrid is already consulting on the next Victorian Transmission Plan, something we encourage people to get involved with. The plan will take a 25-year view of the state’s transmission and renewable energy generation needs. And that means decisions being made now will shape regional Victoria for decades.
Tony Goodfellow is RE-Alliance policy and engagement manager, and lives in Ballarat.
## %% ## The Weekly Times ## Image: The Weekly Times
