we acknowledge the traditional
custodians of the land in which we
gather acknowledging the Wadi Wadi people of
the Dharawal Nation not only their
custodianship but their Elders past
present and those are emerging within
the aboriginal community to remind us that
in this nation we have a heritage that
goes back tens of thousands of years
Civic Prayer
Almighty God we who are gathered
together in Council pledge ourselves
to work in harmony for the welfare and
development of our city guide us we pray in
our deliberations help us to be fair in
our judgment and wise in our actions so
that prosperity and happiness shall be
the all of our people Amen
apologies or applications councilor
Kershaw
so move that way that be
received and noted move that way
councilor Brown second Council Walters
all in favor please say yes thank you
confirmation of the minutes of the
ordinary meeting of the 18th of
September thank you Lord Mayoror I move the
minute to the ordinary meeting that in
September be accepted as turn accurate
move that way Council David Brown second
Council Tania Brown any further discussion
Council put it the minutes are
circulated for the 18th of September all
in favor please say yes against it's
carried un unanimously thank you um any
conflicts of interest declarations
Council Tania Brown uh thank you Lord Mayor I
declare a non pecuniary non-significant
conflict of interest in item one as I'm
employed by the University of Wollongong uh
which maybe referenced in the debate I
will remain in the chamber and vote on
this item thank you thank you additions
and presentations Council
sorry conflict what yours councelor Cox
did you yes I have a conflict of
interest to declair Lord Mayor in item three
the sports grants uh I play for Fig Tree
Football Club which is one of the
recipients of funding in that item so
it's a perceived conflict of interest
I'm not on the board but I'll remove
myself from the chamber and not vote on
that item noted Council Walters uh Lord
Mayor um I have a perceived pecuniary
conflict of interest on item one as
transmission is mentioned in the debate
I will leave for the duration of the
debate
not all right any further conflicts of
interest that's uh petitions and
presentations councilors any petitions or
presentations
none Public Access I call upon Philip
Balding to address
Council I would ask that uh seeing that
we have quite a crowd here this evening
that we listen with respect to all
speakers thank
you hello um I'm Phil I'm a local
programmer living and working from home
in ? Meadow
I'm currently working for an electric
vehicle charging company I strongly
support the recommendations to get this
offshore Zone declared and I'm very
curious to see what comes from the next
stages on feasibility and environmental
impacts uh I'm confident the project
will be viable as I follow the news on
the transition to renewables and uh ?
energy news in general since I was
little um just know I have a small
concern over item 1B extending it
further out over what might happen on
cost um potentially making the project
unviable or more expensive however I'm
happy to make compromises I just want to
replace as much coal as possible when I
was 16 I visited Silverton near ?
Hill and I did a tour of the abandoned
uh silver mine there and the tour guide
said they want to put big the biggest
wind farm in Australia here in a year
and it will destroy the area I was
confused thinking it looked like the
perfect place for a wind farm uh it was
very remote and deserted area and very
good wind if not here then uh where I
thought to myself and I followed the
news of Silverton for not one year but
10 years until it was finally
operational and it only came to AA 200
megawatts of capacity our proposed Illawarra
offshore area would be 20 times that
according to Mr Minister
Bowen land owners across the country
oppose these projects just like at
Silverton and the transmission cables on
their land in near towns um I've read
interviews in AFR where farmers say wind
farms should be put offshore well who
has more rights farmers over their own
land or us over the horizon we don't
know New South Wales should be rolling
out over a per year of wind energy to
meet targets but we've instead only done
one ? over the past five years uh
due to local opposition it's just too
slow so we can't afford to be blocking
any more wind farms these things will
continue to go up all over uh Australia
not just Wollongong we're current we're not
lucky or unlucky or unique to be getting
a wind farm uh it's just another area
it's unique to be floating there and the
New South Wales's electricity
infrastructure road map released in 2020
States we need 50 projects of Silverton
size just to replace the ?
station or that would be two areas just
like the
offshore
area um we've seen many young people
protest for the climate famously the
school strike for climate and Friday for
future you don't see many young people
protesting against this renewable energy
Zone though because they know it saves
the climate it's good for the ocean by
replacing the burning of fossil fuels
young people understand the seriousness
of climate change and uh
that much of Australia could become
unlivable in a warmer climate they've
grown up with insane bushfires and
floods and that cost alone could be much
more expensive than getting to net zero
emissions for these reasons it must it
makes an easy choice for young people to
compromise their view of the horizon by
putting in a wind turbine they don't
have teeth they don't bite the
aesthetics are just totally harmless
tall structures many people I talk to
and find them enjoyable to look at uh
when they have driven past them at Lake
George on the way to
CRA as for wildlife millions of birds
are currently killed by mining
vaporizing coal so it doesn't sound so
bad to instead accept a few bird deaths
from wind turbines which is found to be
about 17 deaths per turbine per year in
Victoria and ?
farms uh that's according to Emma
Bennett an ecologist who studies it um I
don't see this as a comparative or
conceding or anything in the transition
Net Zero I see it's a huge advancement
and I think some uh opponents of our
offshore wind uh proposal fail to see
these choices they're being unaware that
they're making the choice to um uh stop
or delay renewables which will result in
more deaths by coal they might not be
coal lovers but they're inadvertently
coal
choosers um as for the cost of offshore
wind I understand it is currently more
expensive than onshore and ideally we'd
be rolling out more onshore instead uh
I'd be willing to pay some higher bills
um either way but I don't think this
would be necessary because
diversification of wind is really
important I look at the wind farm data
on websites like openm and for a few
days in the middle of September all our
r farms ran at 20% capacity however in
Queensland Mount Emerald when Farm we in
at 80% capacity so that farm made a lot
of money that week um we need more um
projects like this that are negatively
correlated with the whole Market to
minimize expensive storage like
batteries um so yeah I'd really like to
get to the feasibility stage and see
whether the orise this uh wind in a
diversified way thanks for
listening questions
councelors thank you Mr balding thank
you very
much
can I
just I call upon Courtney bli to address
Council hello it's Vania silent
galian um hello everyone I stand here
today as proud resident of the ilara I'm
in my mid-30s I've moved down here with
my partner I'm a professional with an
established career I want to bring my
kids up here and I recently was lucky
enough to buy a house and through this
is also my Horizon that I'm having
impacted by the wind farms and I'm also
a pass passionate advocate for clean
energy and for the environment and for
the betterment and the security of all
of our futures today I urge the council
to join me in supporting the proposed
offshore electricity infrastructure Zone
this is a really important step forward
for theara this is a momentous
opportunity that we can take up to be
part of the leading cohort in Australia
in moving this
forward I think it holds immense promise
for our region and for our community and
it can strengthen our community moving
forward there's no denying that we have
to move away from coal there's no
denying that jobs are going to change
and our jobs already rely too much on
coal and steel works and things that are
going to become very out of order very
quickly um we have an opportunity to
upskill our workforces to be able to
deliver on this and to create more
Innovative work within our area and
expand that skill into the rest of
Australia I think as responsible
citizens we cannot ignore the pressing
issue of climate change we have another
birth uh not
birth we have another Bush Fire season
upon us I live with a bit of bush in the
back of my house that connects to the
escarpment we know from the National
Fire Academy um Association that our
areas who have not been burnt in the
last bush fires are the next ones to be
burnt part of this is because we aren't
moving to renewable energy fast enough
the University of Willen goog's blue
Energy Futures lab have an amazing FAQ
if anyone wants to read it it's on the
website um they've noted that offshore
wind has substantial energy production
potential due to the consistent strong
Marine winds that we have in the ilara
and we all feel it when we can't go to
the beach because we're getting
sandpapered with the sand all over us
they're amazing winds and they're going
to bring us Renewable
Power um the council previously
expressed support in responding to the
current climate emergency and to build
local skills in employment opportunities
and I commend you for doing so
this is proposed offshore wind Zone
provides effective solutions for both of
these issues it's a really crucial step
forward for the council to take in
meeting these intentions and I F fully
support you in doing so a main concern
that I'd really like to raise is that
this hasn't been communicated very well
from the government and from the
potential developers going to be
involved in it there's a magnitude of
misinformation and Ill formed in
conversations being being thrust around
the community around this issue there's
a necessary and healthy debate to be had
around this and we need to be able to
have it with facts and with hearing from
experts and understanding these
environmental and infrastructure and job
assessments that are going to happen
what I see is the first step is getting
an offshore wind Zone accepted and put
forward and therefore I implore the
council to put forward a positive
supportive um
submission I commend the council for
their thorough analysis of community and
Industry concerns that are being raised
as is outlined in item one I understand
that some of the concerns about the
potential impact on marine life tourism
and the environment among
others and while I wholeheartedly agree
there should be a thorough analysis of
any potential NE negative impacts I
really do encourage the council to
recognize that these should be addressed
by the individual developers the
government and the community through a
more effective and efficient Community
consultation and Ed education
process right now the community does not
feel fully informed to be able to make
decisions in regard to some of those
concerns being
raised I recognize I would love the
council to recognize that it doesn't
have to be an either or situ situation
all of these areas of concern can be
negotiated and can come to a compromise
from both
areas F the blue future lab notes
several examples of where offshore wind
and tourism industry and effective
ecological maintenance exist in
alignment in other
countries I urge the council to
emphasize the importance of these issues
within a supportive submission and to
recommend that these issues be
adequately addressed in the future in
closing
we have a fantastic opportunity here to
step forward and be part of the future
and I would be so proud of Will and gong
if we do if we were able to take it up
thank you
question you have any questions Council
Cox thank you for your presentation you
mentioned that you thought the
communication hadn't been as ideal as it
could be do you have any specific
criticisms around that or any
suggestions as what could be better yeah
absolutely so um I work from home and
the first thing that I personally have
heard about this was when we got the
flyer in the letter box a couple of
weeks ago about the proposal which was
really shocking for me because I'm part
of the climate space I engage with it a
lot um so for me that kind of
information needed to be bigger better
out there a lot of our communities
especially up north are very
Community face to-face based and I think
a lot of that needs to be tapped into in
community engagement from the government
and from Council um I know that not
everyone can get to the meetings for
example the one that Allison Burns did
booked out after like a couple of hours
so I wasn't able to attend that one I
will be coming to the one on Wednesday
but I feel like that is very late
considering that people want to be able
to make submissions that also the
overlap with the yes campaign lot of
supporters are currently a bit occupied
um and I
think very
clear um factual information and and
addressing misinformation headon there's
a lot of stuff happening in the
community groups where people community
members are kind of modeling what they
think this will look like on their own
terms because there's not enough
information thank you thank
you any further questions R thank
you
I'd invite n leise to address
Council thank you Lord Mayoror uh
counselors I'm speaking in particular
against onea of the recommendation
before you uh the federal government's
proposal uh in my view in its current
form does not strategically align with
your climate change and job creation
efforts in supporting a a project of
this size and scale uh you would in fact
be contravening your own stated
strategic goal of valuing and protecting
our environment you'd be supporting a
project that reports to address one
climate Disaster by creating another the
potential desecration of the ilor marine
environment now I stand up here
because I stand here because like
everybody here just hold it for a moment
sorry any interjections uh please hold
off okay if you want to uh congratulate
any speaker do so outside the chambers
afterwards thank you thanks um I'm here
because like everybody here I love this
region I love our Coast I love that it
represents who we are I'm also concerned
obviously about about climate change and
I support appropriate and responsible
renewable energy sources but like many
people in this room two and a half weeks
ago I wish shocked and devastated to
discover the full extent of this
proposal before us hundreds of soaring
industrial turbines 10 kilometers off
our beautiful Coast in the whale
migration path now the federal
government's telling us that this is
just defining the footprint its early
days but counselors around this table
you know better than anybody how the
zoning process works on something is
declared and gazetted it's n impossible
to walk it back so three objections for
you for now firstly there's just not
enough information for a project of this
magnitude size scope proximity to a
large residential area add those factors
together and uh as far as I aware this
would make it the largest wind turbine
power plant in the world and where's the
detail where's the cost benefit analysis
how do we know we're not going to cop a
huge financial impost the minister has
said enough publicly to indicate that
power from this plant is going into
hydrogen production and shipped offshore
it's not going to be powering homes here
uh whenever we raise risks we're told by
government Representatives there's
insufficient or inconclusive evidence to
demonstrate that there's harm caused
here well of course there's no evidence
it's not been done on this size before
we in Woolen gong unfortunately are
being used as Crash Test Dummies so
private interests can profit from this
project second objection is of course
the environment and I have no time to go
into detail but I ref refer you to the
Department of climate change's own
guidance on environmental risks they've
documented 13 significant R uh risks
mostly environmentally related and it's
very sober reading uh I I recommend that
you have a look at that if you haven't
uh obviously impact on Wales other
Marine fora uh our supposedly protected
bird species the ocean itself and of
course the Department's refrain is that
for all of these risks it will be up to
the developer to mitigate the risks so
let's be clear on this we're being asked
to put our trust in an overseas company
whose sole driver here is to extract as
much money as possible out of this
project and we will pay third objection
is the impact on jobs and our tourist
industry now there's no argument even
from the Department that this will have
a visual effect it just depends on
degrees and whose picture you believe um
now leaders of of our key tourism and
business groups have been very quiet on
this because they've got Government
funding they've got sponsorship they
can't speak out publicly but I can tell
you that privately many of them are very
concerned I've been speaking to hang
gliders individually pilots and also the
clubs they are really concerned about
the future of hangliding imagine if they
had to walk away from hangliding at Bald
Hill known as one of the the birthplaces
of flight in Australia not for the
individual Pilots but our own image we
have fought and clawed back our way from
industrial downturn to establish
ourselves as as a tourist haven and all
the beautiful things that we have along
the coast and now we're considering this
I'll welcome the news late breaking news
the minister has extended the submission
period after we our group pointed out to
the member for Cunningham that the
legislation actually does allow it that
is great news councilors I know this is
not your jurisdiction but regardless
people are looking to you for local
leadership I welcome that your
discussing it here but please listen to
your community wield whatever influence
you can against this project if you
can't do it openly please shout it in
the back rooms please look inside
yourselves and really ask with what you
know about about what's proposed and the
many things you don't know is this
really okay for our region do you really
want the door to be open to something of
this size with so many questions on your
watch I say no the price is just too
high to pay thank you questions
counselers all right okay thank you
Council has any
questions thank you very much call upon
Philip M and to address Council sorry
Michael
mck
Lord Mayoror and councilors thank you for
allowing me to speak here today and to
to represent the opinions of many of
your
community the climate and the Beachside
living that we all enjoy and participate
in will be changed forever if this
project goes
ahead these turbines won't just affect
you getting a nice Cool Breeze through
your house with a hot afternoon it will
affect the size and frequency of the
Waves hitting our
beach the dispersement of the pollution
trapped against our
escarment and the AAS of the water for
the fish to breathe and the list goes on
we are a Beachside City a tourist haven
we're being compared to the European
installations but you don't go to Norway
for a Beachside
holiday the people living in the west of
people living west of the princess
Highway and the the M1 are the people
that are going to suffer the most Coral
fig tree
dto the air we breathe and the water a
precious resource throughout the world
water has been privatized and we can see
the drama caused by the people up River
taking water away from the people down
river that they need and this is already
happening in Europe with the
wind when they build a new wind farm in
Germany it blocks the wind getting to
the wind farms in Norway
so they're now having a problem with
producing electricity from their own
wind
farms and this is relevant to us because
these wind farms in Europe that are not
getting the wind that they were once
getting are 40 kilometers away from each
other and they're proposing to put a
wind farm only 10 kilometers off our
beach so that proves that the we will
not get the same ocean breezes onto our
beaches and into our
homes the East Coast of Australia is
also a whale super highway there are
over 40,000 whales that go up and down
our Coastline every year that's 80,000
whale
movements and they all travel in the
shallow Waters of the continental shelf
that extends 35 km off our coast and
they have to travel in that shallow
water because they're
carving
if this proposal goes ahead they'll be
trapped inside that 10K Zone with all
the ships sometimes we've got up to 15
ships sitting to wait sometimes it's up
to 40 ships sitting waiting to get into
Fort kemer and there narrow 10 km strip
is where the whales are going to be
forced and they're going to have to be
in there with that number of ships as
well recently an interview with Dr Carl
most of you here will will know Dr Carl
you'll have heard of some of the the uh
top podcast that he does he did a uh an
interview with a Dr Rosemary bars um who
worked for the LM wind power in
Denmark she's an Australian lady uh
lives back here now here in Australia
and she's got her own business and she
stated that the depth of the floating
wind turbines is nearly
unlimited she stated that they can go in
water kilometers deep
this means that if we did have to have
wind turbines off the ilar coast that
they could go outside the continental
shelf outside the main whale migration
path away from most of the ships away
from our Coastline 70 kmers out Europe
have wind turbines 125 kilometers
offshore so the distance out and the
depth of the water are not an
issue for this project to align with
Willen gong council's goals of reducing
global warming and improving e
employment prospects it can't damage one
environment in an attempt to Mayorbe
affect another or reduce employment in
one area and improve it in another we
don't think this area should be gazetted
for wind turbines until there is
independent research not the
developers showing that it is safe and
our environment won't be detrimentally
affected the area if the area proposed
if it is to be considered at all should
be moved outside the whale migration
Zone shipping Zone and away from our
Coastline we request that you appeal to
the federal
Minister not to Gazette this area until
the research confirming the benefits of
the environment without compromising our
environment thank
you
questions thank you thanks
Mr call upon Helen Wilson to address
Council thank you Lord Mayoror and
counselors thank you for having me here
um I am going to change the
subject
but I would just like to say that it
saddens me to see the generational
divide but it gives me heart to see that
everybody who's spoken on this topic so
far is very committed to preserving the
Ila waras environment and that's what I
want to talk about another aspect of so
I think we all agree that the ilar
escarment is
crucial to wen gong's
identity and we all value it very
highly um I thought I was going to speak
outside the agenda but in fact I noticed
that the Heritage strategy which is on
the agenda for this meeting um mentions
the escarment a number of times and it
seems from that from that document that
the escarment is very important to wen
gong's Heritage it's a landscape area
which I think is a a bit of a new term
in the Heritage space it's a cultural
landscape it's full of
significance but I was a bit shocked to
see that in the implementation plan for
the Heritage strategy there's not a
single item devoted to the
escarment so I want to put to you that
Council needs to do more for the
escarment um and I want to talk about
the Strategic Management plan which is
another Council document
so there were um two there have been two
versions of this plan in 2006 and
2015 I want to argue that it needs to be
reviewed
again um originally the main challenge
was planning on the escarment how do we
get
development in out of the wrong places
and the right kind of
development and the different
zones I would say that that largely
sorted now within council's Powers
particularly since the um the large
lot's proposal which is currently on
exhibition um I want to argue that we
need to pay attention now as a community
that values our environment on the
recreational use of the
escarment um Council put a lot of
resources into the Strategic Management
plan um following a a very high-profile
Commission of inquiry in
1999 but there's been no dedicated
Council
committee um or management function that
I as far as I
know since the escarment planning
Community reference group in which met
between 2012 and
2014 I would say this is a
lack
the Strategic Management plan's
long-term vision is for the escarment
values to be preserved and enhanced
through Public Reserve or private
stewardship I absolutely LED that and
I'm sure we all agree with that
here however we're also very aware that
many environmental threats still exist
and continue to increase and become more
frightening with climate
change in the Strategic Management plan
there are a number of community
capacity
objectives for increasing understanding
and
appreciation among the community so that
people will better be better prepared
and equipped to look after the
escarment I would say these objectives
have not been fulf
build I don't think enough people are
aware that the escarment isn't a
homogeneous stretch of greenery up there
um it's not all the same there are
different kinds of vegetation and
different
zones and it's not all public land in
fact most of it is private
land people are quite confused about
what rights of access they have I really
think that's something that council
could could sort out um we on the
national parks Association and the
escarment alliance have been a concerned
a lot with mountain biking and we think
that the state Conservation area which
is a minor part of disconnected sections
of this department run by um National
Parks and
Wildlife that it does not have the
capacity we need to find other Solutions
for a popular sport like this we need
private land owners and the community to
step
up um any questions counc so from my
perspective what would you identify as
the main threat to the
escarment the threats are M threat
ah um I suppose climate change if you
want one one o overarching thing but I
think overuse is a is it made threat
because we're not um I think the the
planning you know we're not approving
council is not approving major new
developments okay anymore but I think
the use the recreational use is
continuing and we are very concerned
about the amount of illegal trails that
are that are being built and we would
really like the community to understand
much better that this has got to stop
okay cops thank you for your
presentation so just do be really clear
your key ask is that that strategy from
2015 is renewed yeah and those things
under come under that strategy is that
right and what the things that you've
mentioned
tonight to be included yeah yeah yeah
yeah the the community capacity
objectives need to be reviewed the
recreational use which is a very skimpy
section needs to be expanded it needs to
be acknowledged that it's being it's
growing um and expanding in and and the
community needs to have some solutions
to manage it thank you very much thank
you call upon Pat ghoul to address
Council Pat
ghoul good evening Lord Mayoror and
counselors thank you for the opportunity
to speak
tonight three residents of I toogy park
lodge are attending council tonight
because we are unhappy with es scooters
on our
footpath we were only notified on the
morning of the trial of E Scooters that
they will be using the single foot path
on the south side of teraji road to go
from the bike path to taji
station this is a footpath we use and is
in is already in poor condition and US
25 residents look down at the foot path
as we walk to prevent us
tripping the residents are disappointed
that wenong council did not consult the
residents of Troi Road not only our
village but all the
residents the foot path is a trip Hazard
but we have children under 16 legally
allowed to ride bikes and their parents
following them to keep them
safe no one is keeping us
safe and bike and Es scooter riders do
not give way to us they expect us to
move to the uneven lawn surfaces to
allow them to
pass we are asking that wenong Council
improve communication with with
residents and stop E Scooters going
along this footpath it is far too narrow
the foot path is for pedestrians for our
feet not scooters or
bikes a second matter is the length of
time the area around to rogie pool has
been fenced off we the residents of
woolongong not only taji suburb want
access to the Rock pool we also know
tourists are Keen to use it as well and
it's been over two years that uh it's
been fenced off thank you questions
councelors thank you very
much councelor it's thank you thanks Pat
and it was a pleasure to meet you um the
other night along with your other
residents and take on board your
concerns my question is could you just
explain to the council the paths that
you take around of the walk in the area
in toodi yes um well toodi Park Lodge
our driveway is in toodi road we have a
gate a lock gate onto Marin road so
quite often our residents will walk out
out of the Mariner road gate and walk
East down towards the bike path walk
along the bike path the beach the pool
and then head back uh on the south side
of taji road and it is becoming very
busy and and the Pathways in bad
condition
anyway thank you we are addressing your
concerns thank you thank you very
much David
Brown Lord M if the speakers be thanked
for their presentation they be invited
to table the note should they so wish
somebody second that seconded counselor
Campbell please say yes yes that's
carried unanimously follow the agenda uh
thank you Lord Mayoror could I move that
the staff recommendations for items two
and then 4 to 10 inclusive be adoped on
block leaving items one and three yeah
we have a seconder second Council F any
further discussion I put it council is
all in favor please say yes yes against
it's carried unanimously item one
Council of Cs Lord Mayoror I'm happy to
move item one is printed with a minor
variation which I'm hoping might appear
on the
screen which is to add an additional few
words to section D so that it
reads yes should we have a get a second
to
First uh so that we include consultation
with traditional owners and a community
benefit scheme inside the
brackets okay second seconded Council
ten Brown receed Council CS thank you
Lord Mayoror I've worked my entire adult
life uh on environmental issues and in
the struggle to solve climate change
it's something that keeps me up at night
and it's something that I've devoted my
life to trying to solve it's really
tough
it is a really difficult problem to
solve and it's going to require a major
economic and Industrial transformation
within our lifetimes and ideally within
the next decade but the alternative does
not bear thinking about the sea level
rise predictions for Woolen gong if we
remain on the current emissions
trajectory that we're currently on is 3
meters by 2100 in 2100 my kids will
still be alive I'm hoping to still be
here for another 40 years and the
impacts that we'll see in that time are
profound
it means that the 2019 bushfires would
not just be the new normal that would be
considered a mild year it means that our
climate would change so fast and so
significantly that Humanity will no
longer have the capacity to adapt there
is a lag in the global warming that we
see today and the emissions that were
put into the atmosphere 20 years ago so
we're currently living under the warming
from the emissions that were put into
the atmosphere in around the year
2000 in that time emissions have gone up
and they're still going we are more
burning more fossil fuels than we did in
the two in the early
2000s um consider that for a moment
despite the change in rhetoric to
something more sensible and rational and
evidence-based we have utterly failed as
a nation and as a global Community to
reduce our fossil fuel emissions we need
to do this and we need to do it fast and
the way that do that is to build
renewable energy and build it quickly we
still get over 60% of our electricity
from coal despite the rapid and stunning
success of rooftop solar we need to
replace that with renewable energy as
fast as possible and that does mean
building offshore wind which produces
electricity during those times that
solar do not one of the reasons that the
ilara has been chosen for offshore wind
is because of our strong and reliable
winds that are predictable and constant
year round
but it's not simply enough to
decarbonize the electricity grid we also
need to decarbonize the transport sector
and the industrial sector and that means
not just replacing the 60% of
electricity in the grid it also means
tripling the amount of electricity that
Australia currently produces so not only
do we need to replace cied power
stations that are going to be closing
over the next decade we also need to
provide three times what we've currently
been producing through fossil fuels
so while I realize that offshore wind
turbines will be visible albeit far out
on the horizon it is really important
for us to consider that climate change
is a mammoth task to solve requiring us
to build big amounts of renewable energy
in a short time offshore wind in the
ilara and up and down the coast as well
as onshore wind as well as hydrogen as
well as pump Hydro as well as battery
storage all of those things are going to
be necessary
these will be the jobs of the future the
coal minines of the ilara will
inevitably shut down in the coming
decades and our heavy polluting
Industries will need to clean up their
act offshore wind is a really
significant new industry that will allow
our heavy industry to decarbonize and
for those jobs to have a future we
already live and an in an industrial
city when we look out to seea there are
container ships in fact there are Co
ships still exporting coal from the port
cemer coal terminal on a clear day we
Mayor be able to see the turbines off in
the distance like we can see the ships
like we can see the steam coming out of
the steel works it is overwhelmingly in
the public interest to make the
transition to renewable energy this is
not about 3D private interest this is
about our survival as Humanity on this
planet if we don't act on climate change
and act fast our future is pretty bleak
we Face worsening bush fires floods
rising sea levels food shortages supply
chain disruptions diseases and mass
extinctions it is really important that
we have rigorous and accurate
Environmental Studies done to minimize
the impact on marine life including
whales and this is going to be part of
the process first The Zone needs to be
declared and then those studies need to
be done it could be that those studies
tell us that the win turbines need to
come closer to the shore to enable the
W thank you
and if people genuinely care about the
whales then that's what we will do to
minimize the impact I don't believe that
a lot of the people that have been
contacting me genuinely are interested
in the Wales because there are a lot of
things that we could be doing to improve
our marine environments increasing
Marine sanctuaries removing shark Nets
from our beaches increasing reducing the
amount of deep sea trolling that
destroys the
C4 these are complex and important
conversations that we need to have I
attended the public meeting in Fu on the
weekend and was frankly appalled at some
of the behavior by those present this is
a this is an important conversation for
our community to have but please know if
you're the sort of person that heckles
an Aboriginal Elder who has been asked
to speak or if you're the sort of person
that shouts over the top of anyone with
a different opinion or send fake
information mocked up in Microsoft Paint
and claim it as evidence or send
information from conspiracy theory
websites or far right extreme groups and
if you don't care about the impacts of
climate change on my generation and the
generations to come then don't expect me
to engage on a deep level councelor your
time's expired one one more minute that
way counselor Martin second C many all
fa please say yes one more minute
however if you want to have a genuine
two-way conversation that involves
listening involves respect is committed
to solving these complex and real
problems and get the best possible
Environmental Protections and the best
possible Community benefits for our
community then that is a conversation
that I want to have we need to support
the renewable energy Zone we need to
support the transformation to clean
energy we need to support our local
Industries and we need to make it work
for our community so I support the
motion Lord Mayoror and I look forward to
the
debate hold on
could you just be mindful of the fact
that you might agree but this is not an
opportunity to uh win by Applause this
we need to hear the details of this
debate so please if you could just hold
off on the Applause and as I said if you
want to congratulate any of the
counselors do so afterward outside the
chain uh councelor Martin oh me yes you
had your light on previously I did I did
thank the Lord sorry there was others up
before me but anyway uh thank you um
councelor Cox for your very
eloquent
speech can I say I live in Port Kemo
I've been there for 30 something years
and like a lot of people in the
Elara my family particularly my father
did his apprenticeship in the
steelworks I love the steelworks I love
what it does for our employees and for
our
jobs and I also look out over the
escart another thing we love and I enjoy
the three beaches in Port
Campell I also look out at the port and
watch the ships come and go and from my
front room I can see the Wales as
well what I think is critical here is we
need to be able to look
future not past and that
future view if you like has to include
Renewables but I completely appreciate
the
anxiety that is being
felt by many of
you I appreciate that this is a
significant change to our city and to
all the things that we're used to if it
goes
ahead I also appreciate concerns around
the environment I put the motion up for
this city to the climate change
emergency which I was very proud to do
and it was a unanimous vote of this
Council I'm also concerned about the
marine biology about the whale
corridors fishing the commercial fishes
but also the recreational fishes that a
lot of our small businesses require and
rely on for their jobs and also we you
know what's better than to go and throw
a line in the
water tourism has been and continues to
be a major employer in our city and
we're excited to see that we might get
another hotel in town to accommodate our
business and we also know that there's a
lot of other things cooking as far as
employment attractors be it mountain
biking um the great Coastal
walk but we still have to support our
existing
Industries and we need to find a way to
ensure that the opportunity
presented through the potential of
hydrogen that the opportunity
presented with the opportunity or the
potential of the Cruise Ships coming in
Mayorbe who knows um but also that our own
children's future
opportunity to be able to live and work
in our
city depends on us having a steel works
that continue to can continue to operate
that can continue to employ our children
so that when they're my age they're
going to say proudly yeah I did my
apprenticeship or yes I I I work my way
through un with the
Stills I live in Ward
three it is the
most
underprivileged ward in our city other
than the ban
Community I want my residents and their
children to be able to work and live in
my
city and not have to do what I had to do
leave where I grow up in order to get an
education and to get
work and I think part of that
solution is to embrace the things that
worry us and to allow the processes and
to contribute as you already are to the
process this will take some years the
first bit is about the boundaries the
second and third and Fork bids will be
if the boundaries are uh
finalized who gets to bid to do the bits
you know build the
things we have said we want locally made
refund
we want people working on those and
maintaining them we've made that clear
and we've had them WS in here and give
us a chat and we've said yeah fair
enough whatever but
ultimately any future offshore Wind Farm
has to jump through
hoops and their environmental impact
statement Hoops they fishing and
shipping Hoops they're making sure the
whale corals are
protected make sure that our original
culture is respected and protected even
though as a nation we seem to be saying
no but anyway never mind that's another
issue and we
must be prepared to be
smart and generous and be what we're
supposed to be Wong's got an amazing
reputation for being a welcoming City
and lately it hasn't felt like that been
terrible I'd like us Council address the
councilors please sorry you address oh
all right
sorry I'd like us to continue to be
proud of who we are and to
focus on dealing with the difficult
stuff about change your time exp yeah
I'd like another minute please one more
minute that way second
C see councelor
okay so I'd like to finish just by
saying I really appreciate people
writing and sending their emails I've
sort of tried to answer quite a few I
appreciate the fact that you are that we
have people who care about our city but
I also need to know that we are future
proofing our city and that is about
being able to accept change even though
it might feel a little bit scary and
continue to consult and to make our
views held and heard that's all I have
to say Thank You Lord
counc come out to council
ten thank you thank you uh Lord first of
all I'd just like to express a bit of
disappointment I get sick of hearing
that only young
people care about climate
change well let me let me say I'm a
middle-aged older type person
middle-aged people have children they
have grandchildren they have great
grandchildren they are the rapers of
this of this
LGA and
uh they probably have more World
experience and
knowledge uh than someone who has yet to
experience real life
outcomes as a middle-aged Elder type of
person we all want to leave a world
where our children can grow and flourish
so please don't pigeon hold middleaged
people as if we do not care about
environment it I'll use the word pisses
me off and it almost made me change my
my decision on this vote Lord
Mayor I support this
motion and I do so because it is the
first stage of a process and it is
important important that we support the
process and consider all options to
reduce emissions and
waste I look forward to the community
consultation if and when a binding
proposal is received I look forward to
this is received by the federal
government I should say not Council I
look forward to this because of all of
the research that I have done
today demonstrates that offshore wind
power is the highest cost option for
renewable energy
generation and I will read some reports
in relation to that Lord be offshore
wind energy sources are currently one of
the most expensive Energy Technologies
offshore wind farms are 90% more
expensive than fossil fuel generators
and I'm not talking saying we should
stick with fossil fuel I'm just giving a
analysis and 50% more expensive than
nuclear according to to this report
which if one wants to look at it I've
got a whole raft of them which people
can actually look at also this is from
the friends of the
Earth according to the Friends of the
earth energy from it onshore wind
turbines is two times cheaper than
offshore wind so it just shows that
there is a significant cost in relation
to Offshore uh uh wind
generation Lord Mayor recently the U the
UK government called called for tenders
for offshore wind power but received no
submissions as industry was of the view
that the megawatt cost of USD $54 was
too
low in France and Germany older offshore
wind turbines have been shut down once
the renewable energy subsidies were
extinguished as the price did not cover
marginal
cost when we talk about electricity
generation that is exactly what it is it
is only the cost of generation it does
not include other direct and indirect
costs incurred by Society such as energy
storage where there is no sun or
wind recycling costs transmission lines
substations environmental costs the list
goes on as an example it is estimated
that the cost to reach cycle a solar
panel is around usd20 to
$30
if we expect prices to go down due to
Renewables I think we could be in for a
bit of a rude surprise Lord Mayoror but I
do ask that whatever government is in
power at the time that any submission is
is received that it is open and Frank
with the community not only on the
business case but also the environmental
and visual impacts any government sub
subsidy and any cost to
Consumers also of concern is a paper
prepared by the sustainable minerals
Institute uh Professor Simon mik
associate professor of geomety
Geological Survey of Finland he noted
that the quantity of metals required to
make just one generation one generation
of renewable energy to face out fossil
fuels is much larger than first thought
and current known mineral reserves are
not sufficient and are not close to
meeting the required demand cober in
particular Lord Mayoror I do not share the
emotive statements that we hear from
time to time but I firmly believe that
the climate is changing it it is a fact
in fact a NASA report which I mentioned
to C to this Council previously noted
that the climate has been changing on
this planet since it was first born and
we continue to do so the planet is able
to cope humans probably are
not probably 30
seconds
thank there are also large threats to
our climate and to society population
increase 11 billion from 8 billion by
2100 huge fact 40% plus increase what we
see now the outbreak of World Wars
recently and two years gone they are
real issues which also need to be
tackled Lord Mayoror I support this
proposal as we need to explore options
but we do need to recognize that there
are significant headwinds in meeting the
challenge and as a community we must be
open to exploring all initiatives but
also at the same time let's please be
tolerant of each other's views our
forefathers fought to so that we could
speak freely without fear of harassment
without fear of bullying or anything
else so Lord Mayoror I support the
proposal but I do recognize we've got a
lot of everyone's got a lot of work to
do not just
Council thank you Lord Mayoror as we've
seen tonight there's a lot of interest
and debate on the possibility of
offshore wind in our re region uh and
certainly a considerable amount of
conjecture and confusion uh and as
councelor Martin pointed out uh this is
a journey that we're on this process
that we're working through so we're not
here to discuss specific proponents or
technology but rather looking at the
size and location of um of the proposed
Zone uh I'm pleased that following the
advocacy of Alison Burns to uh Minister
Bowen that the uh an extension has been
granted for submissions uh I understand
that is for another 30 days and I
welcome that because obviously there's a
lot of people who uh weren't aware of it
and uh came late to the party if you
will so I'm pleased that they will have
further opportunity to comment uh
perhaps with a bit of clear air after
next weekend but as a council we have
declared a climate emergency and at our
last meeting we endorsed our climate
change mitigation plan so we cannot now
stick our heads in the sand and back
away from investigating sources of
renewable energy
uh the blue Energy Futures lab that's
been mentioned a few times tonight at UW
advises that offshore wind has the
largest capacity factor of any renewable
energy project currently under
consideration in Australia and we know
that blue scope steel is also announced
that have stated it'll need 15 times its
current energy consumption to
decarbonize Steel making operations uh
and I've said in this chamber before
that we are an economy in transition uh
if we are to successfully move away from
coal making uh to using hydrogen other
Renewables we also need to embrace wind
energy to to achieve this uh to protect
the steel industry and manufacturing
jobs in our region uh we have to uh
adapt and move to a future which
Embraces renewable energy we know that
we need energy generators close to where
the population is most of Australia's
population uh lives along the
coastline as residents of woolongong I
think we all share the concerns around
what will this look like um what will
this look like on our Coastline and what
will the environmental impacts be uh
like many locals I enjoy looking out at
the O ocean uh counting how many ships
are there I I think it's been a long
time since there's been 40 ships out
there but certainly it's a a product of
growing up in wenong that you um look at
the ships out on the horizon uh waiting
to come into the port I'd personally
prefer that the Zone be as far offshore
as feasibly possible uh I understand
that the further out you go the less
wind there is so there's a sweet spot
there um but I'll gladly join the chorus
that any future operators should be held
to the highest standards uh to protect
our marine environment and visual
amenity but I don't believe we can back
away from progressing the development of
this technology to protect our future be
able to compow our homes and continue to
deliver jobs for our kids and our
grandkids last week I spoke at a
community event in dto uh and I said
open slather ask me anything and of
course the offshore wind came up so I
braced myself thinking here we go uh and
they said we get it it's for our planet
it's for our community we understand so
I was pleasantly surprised at that but
if we're going to reduce carbon
emissions we must do things differently
and the experts tell me that this is the
form of renewable energy that will best
meet our future needs
okay so uh we can't say um sorry it's
easy to say build it at somewhere else
but I believe we do have a
responsibility to our planet and to our
community we need to adapt how we
generate electricity so that we can all
have a grer future and I support the
submission thank you Lord
Mayor Council blanky thank you Lord Mayor um
I concur with many of the comments made
around the table but I think what is
different what's really highlighted in
this process is that a well-funded and
robust environmental and ecological
research is really needed that we need
robust and transparent environmental
assessment and and independent planning
and assessment Pathways and I I
recognize there's understandable concern
about proponent driven and proponent
commission
studies um and that emission reduction
and renewable energy
transformation is in every other aspect
of our life like our homes our suburbs
our food system in our transport system
and that the longer we wait to reduce
emissions there the more we need Nega
projects like what we could um
potentially um uh have with this
offshore wi proposal but I I shouldn't
use that word project I heard one of the
public access speakers um use the word
project and what we're uh actually
discussing tonight is the area it it's
um there's no specific project at the at
the moment and I recognize that that's
causing a lot of frustration amongst the
community that there's not those details
available um once an area is is declared
developers then have to bid for a
license to work out if a project is
feasible or not at from a technical
commercial social and environmental
perspective the bar for getting a fees
theity license is likely to be high and
the bar for developers demonstrating
whether a project is is actually
feasible is is is really high um one of
the public exess speakers claimed that
councilors um might not be able to shout
openly about their concerns about this
and I I really don't think that's the
case I think we have while I over the
last six years as a council I recognized
it often we do have a Collegiate
approach I think we can often agree when
we disagree that we can we can we're
happy to stand up and disagree and have
robust debate and and it's clear that
that's happening in in the community
too in some of those environmental um
concerns I think um there's a we should
make a special mention of the five
Islands nature reserve and there's been
a lot of talk about humpback whales but
I think the southern right whale um is
is um is is more endangered and there's
there's less there's more of a knowledge
Gap about its um threats and pressures
that it's facing flin's Island what many
of us local known as toothbrush is a
rocky outc um uh that was proposed as
part of a to have a sanctuary Zone as
part of the Hawks shelf Marine path um
that um hasn't proceeded as yet um and
it's that big island that's the one
that's closest to Port cemer that um
that is a particular concern for
migratory Birds because there's short
tailed and wedgetail sheer Waters
there's and and and other and fairy
penguins that nest and and borrow there
laying their eggs under ground and the
chicks are at risk of strangulation with
the invasive Kenyon Grass kouu Grass um
when they emerge from their Burrows big
island is Cat free rat free Fox free and
there's no human visitors pretty much
human free human access is incredibly
limited strictly to National Park
researchers and Rehabilitation stuff
this is because of a human steps on Big
Island they can cause the collapse of a
sea s seabird burrow and that would
Crush any chick or egg series so I would
like to suggest that we add um a few
changes to the words particularly adding
um after migratory Birds and the
nest um one C the final Point impact on
fora and in particular marine life and
migratory Birds
including seabird breeding habitat on VI
Nature Reserve if that is um I would
like to se that as a variation um and if
that's not supported an amendment
Council pops I'm happy to accept that
variation variations accepted thank you
councilors um there's many um issues
that have been um raised just ask where
you wanted that that's an extra point
okay the very end of one yeah thank you
um
there's many areas where there's not
that much known um though of course
there are you know there's a national
strategy prod reducing vessel vessel
strikes on citations and other Marine
megap forner that came out in
2017 um and it's only through dis
process that I've discovered that
strategy um and that the that um some
claims that we've seen off America about
Wale deaths from wind turbines have
actually been linked to vessel strikes
unfortunately and the federal strategy
we have in Australia looks at how do we
um what mitigation um measures are
needed such as reducing ship speeds and
things like that so I recognize that we
need more research in this area and even
um under the previous government uh
research funding was slashed and
sometimes politicized and uh we need
research in the public
interest uh actually last month U um
with the Australian University's Accord
interim report highlighted um their
support for increasing research funding
and recognize that the road map lack
that that the report lacks a road map to
achieving oecd parity in terms of
percentage GDP allocated to Higher
Education and Research a commitment to
modest year-on-year increases and
simpler sustainable funding models will
would allow universities to the
opportunity to invest over a longer time
frame that's a quote from um Patricia
Davidson um and I would add that uh the
government the federal government has
the resources to fund such research it's
just a matter of
priorities um cing time's expired so I
one more minute please one more minute
that
way and Martin second to coun you all in
favor please say yes proceed one more
minute another another concern that
residents have raised and has been
mentioned is is waste um and though um
90% of modern turbines are recyclable as
this Council has pre previously
discussed um in respect to electronics
and consumer goods I think in terms of
wind turbines we should have product
stewardship schemes we should have
regulated requirement like we do with
TVs and computers um that the at
decommissioning that there are robust
Recycling and and reuse um uh Pathways
um often as with tar power station and
the ashon there those decommissioning
costs aren't incorporated into the
construction costs and in 2023 or you
know the the ongoing 5 years that we
face um in feasibility assessment and
further research um those things should
definitely uh be put in place so I
recognize this is the beginning of a
process and this Council will be getting
and and our community will be getting
back a lot more information in the
coming years as we um investigate the
feasibility and the risks and
opportunities that um offshore we
Council Richard Martin thank you Lord
Mayoror I too rise to support the motion
I'd like to thank the start for
addressing some of the concerns that
residents have given to us um and I
think it's very interesting that a lot
of the concerns are about a proposal
about a proposal um we don't know who
the proponent going to be we're a long
way off uh construction's not supposed
to start till
2028 and Mayorbe finish
2031 people are concerned about the view
um and I believe some the Tor is 20
keters plus and I think that's going to
be very interesting because when 2031
comes the wind farms there we're
actually going to see less coal trains
on our train tracks we're actually going
to be able to go through caramel pretty
quickly on Station Street we're actually
going to be able to go up to Sydney on
the train and not have to sit and watch
60 coal cars go by I'm looking forward
to that um but I did a little bit of
research and uh I want to read a little
bit if I Mayor from an article by a
gentleman called Dr Saul
Griffith and he said the Wind Community
is fully engaged with the science
mitigation impacts anotal evidence
suggests that the installations become a
de facto protected Marine Park and lead
to increased bio diversity now people
talk about bird strikes but in the
reality it's our cars our Windows our
buildings our pesticides communication
Towers power lines and our rats that
kill birds a thousand times more than a
winter he also said I live on the
railway line at osty half a t half a
dozen times a day a huge cold train
rattled past my windows and Lo of
construction and it also talks about
climate
hypocrisy when I swim or take the dogs
for a walk I see dozens of ship carrying
emission coal so I think we need to put
this in proportion this has the
possibility of creating 3,000 jobs
during construction it also has the
possibility of giving us 300 jobs
permanent jobs in that I would just like
to see the project come a little bit
quicker cuz I think I'll be about 70
something and I do want to see that
train trip go faster everywhere I do
commend the staff for a great job you
have addressed it but we just have to
remember we have one submission in this
and this is a proposal and wear another
proposal away before another proposal
and the community will be given plenty
of opportunity to be engaged and I note
in the report we talk about the state
and the federal government's
responsibilities to listen to the
community and I applaud everyone to do
that in a very rable and sensible way
thank you Council Aon thank you Lord
Mayoror I'd like to move an amendment to
two parts of point one um the staff have
clearing text to part A I'd like to move
the amendment to that part that willing
gong city council acknowledges the
feedback of its residents and opposes in
its current format its support for the
establishment of any wind turbine Farm
off the coast of
vas to point B that various Heights of
tower at varying distance off the coast
must be modeled so that the true visual
impact can be
understood Lord Mayor I'm not willing to
accept that as a variation that's a from
too fast
too it's almost a
negative okay so it has to be another
motion for shadow
motion okay I see it as a negative so to
the proposal so there foreshadowed
motion
okay you Mayor proce although two years
ago we did as a council unanimously vote
to support a wind farm due to the
Strategic alignment with council's
efforts to respond to the climate
emergency and most importantly to
support local employment opportunities
the consultation and information about
the potential form and impact of such a
Zone Z has been insufficient to date and
I believe we should oppose this
development until the potential impacts
and return on such an investment are
understood when we had some of the
potential proponents brief us on their
proposals the height of the turbines
were much smaller and distance from the
shore was much further out there are now
varying reports of the potential size of
the turbines and the distance from the
shore at which they might be built some
as close as 10 kilm as you've heard and
as tall as 200 80 meters
tall the true visual impact needs to be
understood um needs to be accurately
represented so that the residents of the
ilaa understand what the visual impact
would be at the potential of such a
great height anything closer than 30 km
would not be acceptable the Ila has
worked hard to overcome the idea that it
is purely an industrial city but rather
it has built a tourism industry and a
attracted many thousands of new
residents with its beautiful untouched
and pristine coastlines and vibrant
Marine ecological Treasures there are
many questions regarding the management
of risks such as oil leaks turbine fires
the degradation and disposal of the used
turbines that haven't been adequately
answered we have the Good Fortune of
being able to watch migrating whales
from our shorelines the Ila Coastline
and the potential location of the
proposed wind farms would certainly have
an impact on migrating Wales there's
also the risk of the many to the many
species of birds that frequent the coast
and nest in areas such as the five
Islands it would appear that the number
and proposed height of some of the
submissions would be a world first in
terms of number of turbines and height I
like many of my fellow residents are
understandably concerned that the
ecological health and amenity of our
beautiful Coastline will be at risk with
such an experiment a near 10 kmers off
our Coast
it is something that needs to be
seriously considered and it's something
that we as counselors need to keep a
breast of and hold the other levels of
government accountable for what they're
proposing to build here and say no if
it's not in our best interests or that
of the environment thank you thank you
Council
Campbell thank you Lord Mayoror it's been
a very interesting week to be a
counselor on Mong Council Lord Mayoror I
noticed on a social media feed a number
of our residents felt that we shouldn't
have a stand in relation to One Federal
issue that we should be a political that
we had no right to even suggest a
particular form of action and yet on the
other hand I've also had a number of
residents contact me telling me that I
should have quite a strong stand on a
particular Federal issue that is this
one so I I've kind of come to the
conclusion that perhaps it's about if I
if I agree with the person it's okay I
can share my opinion and have an opinion
but if I don't I shouldn't that's all I
can come to this is an issue that has
raised concern for a number of people I
reiterate it's not a council decision
and our submission
supports one
proposal of one phase so not actually
project the map for where potentially it
might go that's it that's all that's on
the table at the
moment I notice that our staff have
included the key elements of the the
issues that are being raised that are
people's concerned the management on of
waste of used
pieces landbased requirements how stuff
gets from out there into my PowerPoints
to plug in my coffee machine
the impact on shipping the impact on
recreational fishing the impact in
foreign and marine life that we've added
to as
well
again I really appreciate that we are
supporting in
principle this phase of the
development I've received emails from
people who are very concerned that this
was kind of rushed so I'm very pleased
to hear just late this after
that the periods for submission on stage
one have been extended by another 30
days I also remind and am pleased and
reassured by the fact that there are
another four opportunities for
consultation in each of the steps
outlined for this proposal as I say this
is stage one and the stage one
consultation there are four other
opportunities as the process continues
down the
path if it does yes I had a look at the
information provided by the group of 17
academics from a broad range of
disciplines who like before us tonight
gave their in principal support whilst
recognizing the importance that we
ensure the highest
environmental social and cultural
standards are met I also note that the
Ed environmentalists Dr s griffi and Tim
flener support this phase of what will
be a long process no doubt dotted with
new technological breakthroughs and
increased research leading to further
breakthroughs into many of the issues
that we're concerned about
today to quote Tim Flanery the need for
new clean energy is urgent we need it to
close down our polluting coal and gas
plants and if we fail to develop clean
energy in time climate impacts from heat
waves to fires and floods and sea level
rise will continue to grow we're lagging
we are lagging in part because of
community opposition to wind and solar
Farms if we in the ilora don't do our
bit to help who will Lord Mayoror I
support the recommendation as it has
been
amended Council
Dary thank you Lord Mayoror and thank you
fellow councilors for all of your oh
much debate I gu support for the
recommendation uh from the wonderful
work that Council staff have put forward
Lord more I also support the
recommendation but I just like to point
out a couple things that and it's been
fantastic the problem with today's
society is that everything needs to be a
rush everyone wants it now they don't
want it tomorrow they don't want it next
week they want it
now I don't have a problem
except we have to look at the process
and a couple of times it's been
mentioned already the process the
process if you have a look at the
um sorry
the the um the motion the the
information that the council staff would
put through that the process is a
three-phase function there's three
sections within phase one we're only at
section two of phase one and I think
it's Council Martin said that we have a
long period to go a long period as
Richard Mark said that could be 2031 or
something like that uh when I might be
150 or whatever it happens to be but
um you know for me Lord Mayoror that the
challenge that comes with it is that uh
we're crying out now that it's going to
have an effect on the the as was put by
one of the speakers that the quality of
the water the quality of the air
stopping the the air movement uh getting
across to Stam
tops everyone in this chamber from
Council knows I'm a bit of a skeptic
about the ultimate climate change Factor
uh I agree with c
climate's changing over the eons climate
has changed from whether it's an ice age
to now we're going through a heating age
so yes climate is changing I wouldn't
say we're having the detrimental effect
that a lot of the naysayers are are
saying you know we're not going to fill
our dams either can I say Professor
what's his name
plan no we're not going to fill those
anymore so the fact is look I agree and
having lived in England for a number of
years uh having recently Revisited
England for a reunion uh that the number
of wind turbines that sit off the
Northeast Coast of England and sit off
the northwest coast of England are
phenomenal do they have a problem with
the local residence the local
community not one
I say Lord there not one I
if we if we want to get to the renewable
stage of of
life then we have to look at the steps
that need to get there part of those
steps are part of this process but let
it play out yes it's up to us to provide
the feedback the commentary from you
from everyone in this this chamber Lord
M that everyone has an opinion whether
it's positive or whether it's
negative no one has the right to
say you're a dickade as has been told
here recently excuse the French but we
we as a community need to understand
that look the visual impact if it is 10
kilm off it's going to be X if it
happens to be 20 kmers off it's going to
be
y i support what council a can put
forward was
and I'm
sorry Council Cox but I don't think it's
too far removed from what you have at 1B
in respect to consideration of the
visual effect that could occur uh I
think possibly what could have occurred
was to incorporate um some of the the
wording that Council Akon had said uh to
assist uh with the consideration for the
community for us as a council Council
ORS to look at the visual effect of what
happens out there if they put out an
example
it a trial a pilot to to take some
photos on top of a ship potentially with
the factor some 10 km hour 15 or 20 Lord
Mayoror we would then understand what that
visual impact was and whether it really
did affect us and our community anxiety
um well Mayor it's a federal government
initiative it's not ours we're only here
to provide some feedback and also
fortunately to provide uh some Community
feedback as well as a part of our our
submissions um and if you look at the
blue Energy report from
University they talk about where the
aring power station closes down that if
they to put in two 100 unit Farms it
would overtake the amount of gigawatts
energy that um aaring would be putting
out so there's good reason for it uh but
you
know I I just think look we need to be
more cognizant of the fact that one we
want a sustainable life going
ahead sustainable climate and we want to
have less carbon around well then in
making the
um the wind
we're using carbon concocted functions
but the challenge is to get us down the
track to where we need to be then we
need to create that some of that
electricity 10 seconds Lord M some of
that some of that uh needs to be back
here to our industrial Hub being the
steel works because they're trying to
head towards green steel making activity
this could be a part of it so
uh I love the fact we' got it before
Council but uh Lord Mayor I fully agree
with and support the motion thank you
thank you Council David
Brown thank you Lord Mayor can I suggest a
variation that the movers and seconders
might be able to take on board is by way
of a point three which reads that
councilors be circulated the draft
submission for comment and review before
it is lodged
happy to accept
that happy that way councilor cops
councelor T brown happy with
that lordman firstly can I thank all the
uh interested residents who uh took the
time to send me their views on this
topic um but for and against I've read
through them all can I also urge anybody
who has not yet sent their ideas through
send it through to the formal
consultation process set up by the feds
you haven't done so already
um the item before us is a little bit
unusual the way we handle these things
normally responses like this we'll have
a um get to sign off on a draft letter
under the hand of the general manager
the Lord Mayor and we get a chance to see
the uh the tone R between the lines if
need be but also to check that
references our broader policies and
strategies um or be much of that is
within the uh documents tonight um the
variation I've suggested takes count the
late braing news that we now do have an
extra month through it so we can now see
the actual text of the letter we will be
sending to this mission to make sure it
lines up with what we say are our
adopted policies and strategies in this
place so it's lucky Stoke that we could
do that on the run here
tonight uh Lord Mayoror the city of wenong
ends at the low tide
Mark so all the significant decisions
regarding this matter will be done by
state and federal players with the
possible OB section of any supporting
onshore infrastructure even then I'll
guess that states overriding
infrastructure Powers will kick in and
even then we will not be having a say so
other than advocacy this is probably the
last thing we will say about this we
will not be a determination F uh we will
not be saying yes or no to make it
happen any
further uh tonight we won't be
establishing a position on wind turbines
we already have that through various
policies strategies and resolutions we
have set a zero carbon Target for the
city we've already said that we support
a renewable industry for our region
we've already said that we support
renewable generation in our
region we don't back home a particular
location for latter and if we have said
that our heavy and zoned land and our
Port give us natural advantures for the
former we have by resolution giving a
shout out to one wind power proponent
allbert though the only one to self
identify at that time and I guess we
been extending that more broadly to
other players if we were to do so now
again that's not to say we back home any
particular player concept or location
just in the abstract that we're happy
that renewable energy Enterprises are
considering investing in our
region and the recom recommendation for
us tonight reflects that adopted
position we support the industry but
once again I'll say it we do not back
home a particular project or
location in this case we say the
proposed Zone should be changed to
minimize potential visual impact number
of people said it tonight I support that
position and I think it's a one we
should say loudly as possible that we
say to the feds review where you think
this should go to minimize the impact
but still achieve the goals that happen
should we progress down that road um L
I'm not quite sure why point so see the
recommendation we're talking about
replacement and recycling infrastructure
that doesn't sound like a logical
response to a Zone to me but nonetheless
it's there unless there's something
about the the location that makes it
easier or harder to
decommission uh technology in this case
I'd say the fact that it's near a port
would make it easier and presumably Les
and presumably more cost effective to uh
to remove the item should you need to do
so we say in this report that we request
diligence to be adopted in assessing
impacts of sea life and birds our papers
note that this consideration is
legislated for they must consider it in
the various Acts
and as to recreational fishes the ones
I've been talking to are pretty excited
I think these might act as feds the fish
accumulation devices which otherwise you
pay a lot of money to install um could
well be some interesting size Mahi Mah
doing laps around these should they go
ahead um I got to say there are shs of
misinformation in this space online I
urge people to be doubly skeptical about
information on Wales and wind time
turbines that comes out of the us some
of this has been exposed as SP generated
by fossil fuel companies as they say do
your own
research uh climate change affecting
currents and whale food sources is lik
to be much more important threat to
sitations than wind
turbines similar as other Council
mentioned bird strikes is perhaps more
likely to come from glass planes and
Office Buildings than your house in the
New York Times today that one route one
night for some reason 961 Birds hit a
single building in in Chicago one night
must been something pretty exciting
there Lord Mayoror I think our our
submission raises a number of points
that we say need to be resolved and
still considered before this this Zone
goes ahead there are
significant impacts potential impacts on
the environment and we say to the feds
make sure you sort that out before you
adopt the Zone because we think that's a
responsible thing to do uh I look
forward to reading all the submission to
this process when they come through and
I also look forward to seeing how the
fed's sent authorities respond respond
to the reporting points raised by local
residents and indeed raised by us
tonight I look forward to seeing this go
ahead think's been covered Council Cox
WR a
reply thank you Lord Mayoror um I'd just
like to address a couple of the comments
made in the course of the debate um
councilor figini I absolutely agree I I
Sayang I absolutely agree um and there
are many older people who care deeply
about climate change who have been
campaigning on this for 30 years and I
want to pay my respects and homage to
those people that are still doing that
now and have been doing it for many many
decades and had we listen to those
people at that time we would be under
less pressure right now to accelerate
the transition and I want to thank those
people for continuing a campaign that
has been very difficult at times um as
you would know though Council figon and
also Council Atkin it is not the job of
this Council to run the business case
for any private proponent that Mayor bid
down the track whether or not the
finances stack up for those projects is
not the job of this Council and indeed
it's not the job of the federal
government that is the job of the
companies that Mayor or Mayor not choose to
bid and that is their job and if they
feel like it Stacks up then they will
bid um of course there will be
environmental impacts of building
offshore wind there is an environmental
impact to everything that we as humans
do the question is what is the benefit
from those actions and there are many
things that we do that do not have a
justification but have a really terrible
impact on the environment our throw away
consumer society and the waste that we
generate um you know the damage that we
do by burning fossil fuels is immense um
and yes there will be environmental
impacts from building offshore wind but
the benefits outweigh in my mind the
impacts and the public interest in doing
that overrides the impact that it will
in inevitably have the ocean will still
be beautiful our beaches will still be
beautiful tourists will still visit
we'll still be able to look at the
Horizon swimming the beach there will
still be whales it is not the end of the
world if there are some wind turbines a
long way off in a distance um councelor
D I would be happier than anybody if it
turns out that you're right and climate
change is not a thing no one would be
Happ it than me but 99% of the world
scientists the mounting meteorological
evidence cannot be wrong and we have a
duty to act as decision makers who have
the capacity to do so um on your point
councilor at can the visual impacts are
included in Council submission that is
that is already part of this motion it's
not that I didn't accept it for those
reasons it's that you were fundamentally
changing it to be in opposition to the
project um our own Net Zero plan as
Council Brown indicated isely on other
levels of government to achieve those
targets most specifically the
decarbonization of the grid because
we've got not only a net zero Target for
ourselves here at Council but also for
our community and unless our electricity
is sourced from renewable energy we've
got no chance of meeting that b a target
for the rest of our
community um finally I would just like
to thank all counselors for the civil
and respectful debate we don't always
agree we haven't all agreed tonight and
over many years I've disagree with
almost all of you but I do thank you for
the always civil way that we've been
able to engage in these debates and
actually that is the thing that makes
our democracy precious it's what makes
it strong is that we can consider
difficult issues we can have differences
of opinion and we can do it in this
foreign in a rational and peaceful way
so I thank councilors for the debate and
put the motion Lord Mayor thank you
council is keeping in mind that there's
a foreshadowed motion if the motion does
not pass then we regress to the
foreshadowed I put the motion all in
favor to adoption please say yes against
so with the exception of council major
the uh rest of the council is vote in
favor therefore the motion is
carried uh just before we progress i'
just like to say to
our uh Community who have come tonight
thank you for respecting the importance
of this occasion your attendance but
also your passion for our the betterment
of our city and our our environment it
might not necessarily work out the way
that you wanted but at the same time
thank you so much for your passion and
your concern about the future of our
city and that from my perspective is a
wonderful thing thank you very much for
coming if you want to uh leave now now
might be the time we've only got one
more motion to
go
the motion is in car in closed session
so you can brogress if you like
Lord Mayoror I declared a conflict of
interest so I will need to leave the
chamber happy to Mo it Lord Mayor Mo that
way Council Walters item three seconded
Council ten Brown any
discussion uh thank you Lord Mayoror uh
probably not as interesting as the last
item but still one that's really great
for our city uh we basically have the
sports reference sorry Sports and
Facilities reference group I always
leave the facilities part about um
grants obviously up tonight we've got
$400,000 going out to obviously eight
organizations looking across the board
from football uh to OB uh basketball and
to rugby as well so can you think we
might push push okay go we we'll get
this done quickly um Lord Mayoror in the
formation of this there's a lot of work
that goes into our grants program for
sports and Facilities groups and I want
to thank obviously carry and Lil's team
uh with' obviously Dave Mayor and Chris
who work behind the scenes uh really
hard to work with it and collaborate
with obviously our sporting groups
within that committee um when you look
at the grants it does take time it does
take a lot of due process to look over
uh these grants in the sense that
there's overall there's a lot of
competing interest out there in the
sporting uh industry to get in this I
know when you look at these grants each
year there probably not as much divers
University as we would hope for however
I think that reflects on the quality of
submissions that you see from these
organizations I know when I looked at
some of them when they came back after a
review from our panel uh there were some
interesting proposals put forward
however they just didn't meet the
criteria that was put out or they had
costings that were out of date I think
if they come back next time we'll
obviously see a lot more diversity and
mix in this um one of the ones I really
did like was in my own Township at
helensburg about the idea of repurposing
netball courts to also be basketball
courts and also look at other things
however they just had the costums a
little bit off it's something they can
review and I think we can see that
happen uh come forward and I think we
also should be pushing and trying to see
emerging Sports come into this area as
well however it is harder for those
organizations to get involved because
they don't have the same power in groups
uh like soccer uh basketball and rugby
have over that established period um
this pickle ball comes to mind but I'd
like to see rolled out across our
community in some of our unused spaces
but that might be something we need to
think about when we go into the
budgetary sorry budgetary planning cycle
coming up in December and February so
councilors I'd like to um obviously put
this forward and hopefully get your
acceptance to move uh but these
obviously a clubs uh receive 400,000 I
know it's very noisy out there but I'm
sure that you'll speak highly um of this
program it's one that I think that's
refined over time I know councelor
rimmer uh from past term saw adequate
investment into this and I think as we
go into the future but going to have to
keep looking and reviewing currently I
think it's doing quite well but as we
look forward um we'll hopefully see more
submissions come over time and add to
this um I obviously endorse and
hopefully other councils as well thank
you ask is there any counsel against oh
sorry anyone against
no councilor T brown I'll be very brief
on next I think we need to get to our
next item of business which is a
beverage
um uh happy to support this going up uh
really pleased to see that there's um uh
eight successful projects and the
400,000 but also that the the successful
applicants cover a lot of areas of need
that we've spoken of many times in this
chamber change room upgrades fencing
irrigation upgrades to courts car Parks
um the list goes on but those are the
ones that we have um funded this time so
I congratulate those successful
applicants uh and note that we've got
the further list of six applicants as
deemed worthy uh should we be able to
attract further funding from other
sources down the track which would be
wonderful um we know there's a huge
unmet need across many sporting codes
and this grant scheme gives an
opportunity to start to pick off some of
those smaller projects that Mayor be
paying points for clubs um and I I agree
with the council awarders we really need
more diversity
um you know there is quite a limited lot
of uh soccer clubs football but not much
from rugby league and certainly other uh
sporting groups across our city so I
encourage those sporting groups to look
at this Grand opportunity start to
identify future projects and um have the
you know your your bucket list your wish
list ready to go uh keep an eye out for
future rounds and um please this is
money that we want to give out to our
community uh to support those clubs so
I'm pleased to see these first uh eight
projects uh pleased to see them get off
the ground thank
you come on councel I know I know you're
all deeply shocked to think that I would
stand up to speak about something to do
with sport but anyway I I have wasn't
that so
much okay anyway I'm I'm shocked to hear
myself to Mike I have a question to
those on the committee and that is and
also to stop do we have a system whereby
those organizations who Mayorbe are hard
to reach or smaller are we proactive in
helping them um understand the grant
process so that they don't keep falling
through the
cracks son through you general manager
we are proactive in reaching out to
those who have a leas or license over
our Sports fields and sports grounds of
which some of the emerging Sports
currently don't so this is very much
designed around our current asset
portfolio and who utilizes them in terms
of improvements so the team is quite
proactive in reaching out to those that
would be eligible for this
program any further questions comments
okay put the motion just one thing in WR
of reply oh there's no WR or reply
Council there's nothing they one against
it okay what's the point all right okay
by all just one second I just want to
know one thing and it goes back to
communication as well um I know that
that every applicant that receives
funding has to sign a funding agreement
uh the committee has raised in detail we
want to see signage on this one because
a lot of our commitments around the city
go unnoticed and considering we're
putting $400,000 into the community we
should be signing every single part of
this thank you
L all right okay all in favor please say
yes against it's carried and uh
unanimously and I declare the meeting
closed