Fresh focus on community for Queensland renewables

Hosting large-scale renewable projects can be a tough pill to swallow for many regional communities. In addition to environmental impacts, there are increasing concerns about the impact-benefit imbalance.

Anxiety and uncertainty within a hosting community can very quickly transform into project opposition, bringing both significant challenges and added time and costs to project approvals.

The Queensland Government has recently rolled out legislative changes to address this imbalance and provide a more community-focused approach to renewables development, as Senior Social Planner Sonya Pascoe explains.

What’s changed?

The Queensland Government brought new legislation into effect last month, mandating impact assessment and notification requirements for existing and new large-scale solar and wind applicants.

The Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 requires the development of social impact assessment (SIA) and community benefit agreements (CBA) early in the application process.

Local councils will have a vital role in the development of a binding CBA to support and uplift their community, informed by the management measures identified in the SIA.

Advancing CBA and SIA in the early stages of the application process can provide a level of certainty for hosting communities, where community needs and aspirations can be built-in to projects.

This process also provides opportunity for proponents to implement efficient, community-endorsed design and management measures, contributing to sustainable project delivery and operation.

How we can help

If you are developing a large-scale solar or wind project in Queensland, we can help you meet these new requirements.

Our Engagement and Social Planning team has decades of combined experience, delivering dozens of SIAs and engagement plans for large-scale renewable projects across regional communities.

We are experts in developing relationships, identifying community needs, and preparing social impact management plans.