For years, renewable energy projects have largely been assessed, by both industry and government, on an individual basis.

• Can the project achieve approval?

• Can environmental impacts be managed?

• Can land access be secured?

• Can the infrastructure be delivered?

But across parts of regional NSW, something is changing.

Communities are no longer evaluating projects individually. They are evaluating the combined impact of an entire energy transition happening around them.

And that shift may become one of the most important strategic challenges facing the renewable energy sector over the next decade, as Principal – Engagement and Social Planning Alysia Bradshaw explains.

As Australia’s renewable energy rollout accelerates so are expectations from communities, landholders and regulators. The challenge is no longer just building projects quickly. It’s about building them well, responsibly, and with trust. That’s the context behind the Australian Government’s Developer Rating Scheme (DRS).

More data doesn’t fix community concern. In fact, it can often make it worse.

In many projects across QLD and NSW, the instinctive response to community resistance is to provide more information. We release more studies, more technical detail, more reports. On paper, this makes sense. If people are concerned, surely better data will resolve the issue.