National grain grower peak body Grain Producers Australia (GPA) has warned renewable energy businesses that farmer rights cannot be forgotten in the race to construct new infrastructure.
GPA southern grower director Andrew Weidemann said he welcomed recent comments by Federal agriculture minister Murray Watt that renewable energy business' consultation with local communities regarding their planned energy projects had not been up to scratch and that the quality of engagement needed to be improved.
Mr Weidemann said GPA supported renewable energy as an opportunity to provide cheaper, more reliable and more sustainable alternatives to traditional energy sources, but said social license needed to be considered in regards to issues that could impact existing landholders during the development process.
"The need for meaningful engagement with local communities has to be considered," he said.
"Project proponents - be it wind farms, solar panels or transmission lines - must ensure they're doing the right thing and not trouncing farmers' property rights in a mad rush to meet deadlines."
"These companies need to ensure they're engaging fairly, honestly and transparently with the communities who'll live with the outcomes - long after their executives have returned to the city."
He said many within agricultural regions already had experience in coexistence via mining projects.
"After so many years of lived experience with mining developments impacting productive farmland and the environment, we already know what's right and what's wrong," he said.
He said he hoped renewable businesses would take this on board rather than simply put in lip service towards consultation.
"Companies can't afford to be racing off to build transmission lines, wind farms or solar farms without first sitting down to make sure communities are on board before they start, not after."
"They can't turn up at the farm gate with their trucks and earth moving equipment ready to roll, without having first talked to the communities that'll live with the actual impacts, to properly understand their concerns and include them in their planning processes and decision-making."
He was backed up by GPA independent director Mitch Hooke, who has a background in land management, who reinforced the importance of meaningful engagement with farmers and communities, to deliver sustainable outcomes.
Mr Hooke said the concepts of 'free prior informed consent' and 'mutual respect' are fundamental to the experiences of mining companies, in earning and maintaining a social license to operate.
"Prior consultation and meaningful engagement are key social license principles; whether it's for renewables or to dig up coal or drill for coal seam gas," he said.
"We don't need to reinvent the wheel here."
"The mining industry's experiences provide a clear set of guidelines for the renewables industry to follow, to ensure mutually beneficial, sustainable outcomes and genuine regulatory protections for farmers, communities and the environment."
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
