Moyne Shire Council will take residents' "overwhelming" opposition to the Southern Ocean Offshore Wind Zone to Canberra where it will focus on maximising return benefits.
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Councillors were split on whether to support the officer's recommendation which included endorsing the declared Offshore Wind Zone position statement and advocacy paper at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 30.
The documents - to be communicated to the federal ministers concerned - were prepared in response to a survey wherein about 90 per cent of the 242 respondents said they opposed the recently declared zone off the coast of Moyne Shire and Warrnambool.
Councillor Karen Foster said the organisation was in a tough position as it was not the decision maker. She said the next step for the council should be balanced and focus on advocating to get the best possible outcome.
"There was an overwhelming majority that said no," she said.
"Council is not the decision maker here, we often get confused with the ultimate decision maker. However we do have an important role to play acting as a conduit between the communities we're elected to represent and the people who are responsible for making decisions.
"We've also got a critical leadership role ensuring if this development does go ahead - and again, it won't be up to us to decide that - we can at least advocate to maximise the benefits for our communities.
"They're ultimately going to bear the brunt of whatever development does or doesn't take place. That's a view entirely consistent with our current council position for onshore wind, I think that's important to note.
"...Our job is to take those messages to Canberra, perhaps we could benefit from things like investment in roads, footpaths, public halls and public spaces and our environment, perhaps that's where we focus our efforts where we can have some input."
But councillor Daniel Meade said while he respected the officer's recommendation, it wasn't "quite strong enough" after reading concerns outlined in the community survey.
He joined fellow councillors James Purcell and Jim Doukas - who took issue with the survey's registration process - in voting against the motion, which ultimately passed four-three.
