A public meeting has been called as opposition to offshore windfarms near Warrnambool and Port Fairy grows after last week's shock announcement that Portland wouldn't be getting any.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There have also been calls for a referendum on the issue during October's council elections.
After public consultation on the proposed wind zone from Warrnambool to Port MacDonnell in South Australia, the Federal Government last week announced a scaled-back location which only took in Port Fairy and Warrnambool.
The decision left many in shock with the community assuming they would be concentrated closer to the Portland Aluminium Smelter, which will be the major beneficiary of the offshore wind power.
A community gathering is now scheduled for March 23 at 11.30am in Warrnambool with organiser, former major Mike Neoh, inviting the region's politicians to turn up and have a say.
Mr Neoh said he had been asked to facilitate a meeting to give the community a voice and to allow people to hear what their options are.
Co-founder of the Southern Ocean Marine Alliance Rhonda Browne - who helped to successfully lobby against offshore windfarms near Portland - will address the meeting, Mr Neoh said.
He said he had also invited Eastern Maar representatives, Warrnambool mayor Ben Blain, state MPs Jacinta Ermacora and Roma Britnell, Greens MP Sarah Manfield and Federal member for Wannon Dan Tehan.
"I can't see any reason why any of our local reps wouldn't attended," Mr Neoh said.
Politicians would be given five minutes each to have a say but for those who don't turn up, Mr Neoh has asked them to send a representative or answer three questions.
He said he wanted to know what their position was on the declared offshore wind zone adjacent to Warrnambool and the nearby whale nursery and whale migration highway.
Mr Neoh also wants them to state their party's position, and tell the public what avenues they have through their local members to voice their concerns.
During the upcoming council elections, Mr Neoh wants to see a question included on the voting papers asking people if they support offshore windfarms within 50 kilometres of Warrnambool's coastline.
He said a yes/no referendum would gauge community sentiment and "solve it once and for all".
While a final location for the community meeting is yet to be decided, he hopes it will be staged on the Civic Green.
Mr Neoh said he had been asked to facilitate the meeting on behalf of the community to give them a voice.
He said the views out to sea from Moyjil, Thunder Point, Logans Beach and Killarney could all change in six years. "I don't think these politicians who develop their policy on energy think of the local community," he said.
"The community is feeling really helpless.
"Most of them are shocked. They haven't heard much about it."
"The community just want a voice and they want to hear from their elected representatives which is not too much to ask."
He said the new zone off the coast of Warrnambool and Port Fairy had caught everyone by surprise. "No one was expecting it," he said.
Katrina Lovell
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
