Vasse MLA Libby Mettam raises concerns about offshore wind farm zone consultation process following meetings

Member for Vasse Libby Mettam has raised her concerns about the Federal Government’s consultation period for the offshore wind farm zone proposed off the South West coast. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water hosted a number of sessions last week, including one at the Busselton Youth Centre which had lengthy lines await community members who attended. The 130-person constraint of the venue led to a rapidly expanding queue stretch all the way round the building and down towards the Busselton foreshore, while department staff walked up and down the line explaining the situation to hundreds of frustrated people. Ms Mettam raised concerns about a lack of transparency and believes the consultation process — which has led to chaos at most sessions in the South West — has so far raised more questions than answers. “The offshore wind farms will have a profound effect on our coastline and yet there are still many unanswered questions about the full impact it will have on the health and wellbeing of residents living in nearby coastal communities but also on whales, migratory birds and our fish stocks,” she said. The State Liberal leader said it was reasonable to expect the Federal Government to be able to provide details on basic issues by the current stage of the planning process. “Residents deserve open and transparent information about the impact of the project and many have stated that the controlled information ‘drop-in’ session last week has done little to allay their concerns or provide any extra information,” Ms Mettam said. “This is not a case of nimby-ism, the community genuinely wants and deserves to know what the pros and cons are, but it appears that most of that information either doesn’t exist or hasn’t been able to be properly provided yet, which is of real concern.” Some attendees of the Busselton session on March 20 complained the department was “treating us as if we are fools”, with the first Bunbury drop-in session on March 19 descending into chaos after members of the public found out it was not a community town hall-style meeting.