Greater transparency between neighbours, greater involvement of local governments, and better coordination across industry sectors are among a comprehensive set of “best practice” standards that renewable energy developers are expected to meet when working with communities in Victoria.
The Victorian Labor government has released its Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines, setting out 43 expectations that all wind, solar and battery storage developers will need to meet if they want to connect to the grid.
The guidelines – which will come into force from July 2027 as part of the Victorian Access Regime – have sought to address ongoing points of conflict and concern raised by communities and regional stakeholders, including public liability insurance, decommissioning and non-disclosure agreements.
To this end, around half of the 43 “minimum expectations” are dedicated to setting the standards of engagement with communities surrounding the project, as well as with host landholders and neighbouring and nearby landholders.
Among the key requirements for landholders is for developers to “negotiate transparently with and between landholders” and to prevent contractual clauses – like non-disclosure agreements (NDA) – from unreasonably restricting community discussion of project details.
