A group fighting plans to develop an offshore wind zone off the Hunter coast has challenged Energy Minister Chris Bowen to reopen its community consultation after a review highlighted the need for governments to improve engagement processes for renewable projects.
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Improved community consultation, better complaint handling and a rating system for developers are among nine recommendations of a renewable energy review put forward by the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner.
All have been accepted in principle by the government.
The Newcastle-Port Stephens Game Fishing Club is among a coalition of groups campaigning against the Hunter project on the back of concerns about the project's potential negative environmental impacts.
The group also raised concerns about the lack of community consultation for the project in Port Stephens.
"The mess here has been caused by the government's own lack of engagement in Port Stephens and Myall Coast, not the developers. But Chris Bowen is blaming the developers as well," the fishing club's spokesman Troy Radford said.
"I have a message for Chris Bowen - stop blaming others and take responsibility for your own actions. Are you going to restart the community consultation again for the wind farm here?"
The government says 300 people attended seven community consultation sessions across the Hunter and Central Coast last year.
The government is expected to announce feasibility licences for the Hunter project in coming months.
Mr Bowen has also invited the fishing club to submit a series of recommendations about how to safeguard the area's environmental and economic assets during the transition to renewable energy.
But Mr Radford said it was not possible to provide such a list until the details of the proposed projects in the Hunter zone were known.
Port Stephens locals are expected to travel to Canberra for Tuesday's 'Reckless Renewables' rally.
Eight companies or joint ventures have applied for licences to explore the feasibility of establishing wind farms in the zone. The government is expected to announce the successful applicants in the middle of the year.
The review of community consultation, led by Commissioner Andrew Dyer, aimed to determine more effective ways to engage landowners and communities directly affected by the green energy transformation.
It found some participants had "a lack of trust" in project developers, including government-owned corporations.
Other recommendations include increasing early local collaboration and revising planning and approval processes.
The review was carried out after complaints in regional Australia about poor planning and a lack of consultation with farmers.
Many participants advocated for "an approach that enabled developers to be held accountable where performance fell below the expected standard".
Mr Bowen said regions host so much renewable energy infrastructure and have to be properly engaged.
"We're in the middle of a very important revolution when it comes to our energy generation," he said.
"There are legitimate valid issues and concerns that people have that need to be worked through."
"There's also disinformation and misinformation for people who do not want to see renewable energy. We want to make sure the regions which host so much of this infrastructure are properly engaged ... not every renewable proposal is in the right place."