Eleven regional shires have endorsed a motion calling on the State government and Western Australia Local Government Association (WALGA) to develop and promote clear guidelines for local governments around the establishment and operation of renewable energy projects.
While the majority of local government land is privately owned, shires have the opportunity to sell off their publicly-owned land to renewable energy companies, with the local governments then able to regulate where the renewable energy is located.
Shires can also prepare their own local planning policies (LPP) for the renewable energy projects, in accordance with the principles outlined by the State Planning Framework (which sets the context for decision-making on land use and development in WA).
While this process provides each individual local government with some flexibility, allowing them to prepare LPPs in relation to their own unique context, the Shire of Moora is advocating for "streamlined, uniform but nuanced locally where appropriate" frameworks and policies to also be developed by the State government and WALGA.
Shire of Moora president Tracy Lefroy said the absence of these policies and frameworks for local governments was significant, as it meant regional shires had been left with little to guide their decision-making processes for renewable energy projects.
To help fill these gaps in knowledge, the Shire of Moora recently proposed a motion for a Land Use Policy to be established at the WALGA annual general meeting.
Ms Lefroy said the motion advocated for the State and WALGA to establish and promote policies to ensure "a considered approach" is taken by local governments for decisions relating to renewable energy projects.
She said the purpose of these policies would be to strike a balance between sustainable energy projects and the preservation of agricultural land and local interests, as well as helping reduce uncertainties and the potential for inconsistent decision-making in the renewable energy project space.
"By actively engaging in strategic land use planning, WALGA can contribute to the sustainability of regional communities and agricultural practices while navigating the opportunities and pitfalls associated with renewable energy projects and carbon offsetting initiatives," Ms Lefroy said.
The motion was supported at the AGM by 11 LGAs, comprising WALGA's Avon-Midland Zone.
Partnering with the Wheatbelt Development Commission, Ms Lefroy has already started work on the issue by creating a small working group that is focused on designing a framework to help guide local governments through their engagement with renewable energy companies.
"We are looking to the east coast of Australia where some fantastic stakeholder engagement and community good has evolved from renewable energy projects, whilst also learning cautionary tales from projects where there has been a lack of strategic engagement with communities," Ms Lefroy said.
If implemented poorly, she said some of the potentially negative effects renewable energy projects could have on regional areas included the disruption of agricultural practices, community division, environmental degradation, noise and visual disturbances as well as putting an extra strain on local infrastructure.
Using the context of a wind farm development as an example, she said the concerns of a community were often multi-faceted.
"Streamlined frameworks that define the way projects are developed, managed and operate through all phases can provide a structured approach to address various tensions, including the impact on existing farm practices, potential noise disturbances, setbacks from property boundaries, visual impact considerations, implications for local infrastructure like airports, and effects on flight paths," Ms Lefroy said.
"Without well-defined policies, addressing these concerns becomes challenging, leading to potential conflicts, community disruption and delays in project approvals."
Alternatively, Ms Lefroy said the potential benefits of a well-implemented renewable energy project for a community included things like economic growth, jobs creation, the potential establishment of community investment programs to allow locals to share in the financial benefits of the project, the diversification of income sources for an area as well as the achievement of environmental sustainability outcomes.
WALGA's perspective
Commenting on the idea for streamlined frameworks and policies to be developed to help guide LGA's decisions around renewable energy projects, WALGA president Karen Chappel said shires already have access to a range of State planning documents that provided guidance on renewable energy, and "Statewide principles" for renewable energy and rural land are currently implemented through the local planning framework.
"State Planning Policy 2.5 Rural Planning (SPP2.5) provides the basis for planning and decision-making for rural and rural living land across WA," Ms Chappel said.
"SPP2.5 encourages local governments to identify priority agricultural land in their Local Planning Strategy and, with their community, set objectives and preferred development outcomes for such locations.
"Such a designation would then flow into a priority agriculture zone in a Local Planning Scheme, with land use permissibility and statutory provisions in line with the principles outlined in the Local Planning Strategy.
"Following this, a local government can develop LPPs to guide discretionary decision making for proposals on priority agricultural land.
"While general broad guidance is always welcome, WALGA believes this is a better approach than a broad 'streamline' policy which would circumstantially apply to all regional local governments."
