Consultation
The consultation plan outlines the strategy and communication tools that Shaw River Power will use to effectively communicate information to the project's stakeholders with respect to the Environment Effects Statment (EES) process and the various stages of the project.
Download the Shaw River Power Station EES Consultation Plan (PDF 172KB)
Significant community consultation has already been conducted with many of the project's stakeholders, in particular landholders and local and state government departments. Under the Pipelines Act 2005, a Pipeline Consultation Plan was prepared, and submitted to and approved by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), prior to land access negotiations with directly affected landowners. The Pipeline Consultation Plan forms part of the wider consultation program.
Since the project was announced in August 2008, Shaw River Power has conducted community consultation events in the project region to provide information to the community about the project and the EES process, and also to gather public feedback about the project.
The program for consultation was linked with the milestones within the EES process and was divided into three phases:
- Phase 1: Public announcement of the project – to introduce the project and the proponent and to outline the approvals process.
- Phase 2: Issues identification and discussion – to provide information to the community on key issues of concern, such as noise emissions, air quality and impacts on ecology, and to capture community concerns and comments.
- Phase 3: EES findings and conclusions – to present the findings of the EES and Shaw River Power’s commitments to minimise impacts on the community and
environment.
Consultation at each phase included:
- Information sessions
- Staffed public displays
- One-on-one meetings
- Information bulletins
- Project updates
Stakeholder feedback has been considered throughout the impact assessment. Feedback was collected from stakeholder information sessions, as well as through government review of technical and impact assessment documents. Stakeholder comments have been addressed where possible throughout the impact assessment. Issues raised within future consultation will continue to be addressed within the detailed design phase of the project via, for example, in the construction and operations environmental management plans.