Community
Windlab is a signatory to the Clean Energy Council’s Best Practice Charter for Renewable Energy Projects.
The Charter provides a leading-practice framework for renewable energy companies to collaborate with stakeholders to ensure projects protect community, environmental and cultural values, and deliver the meaningful and sustainable regional development initiatives that make a difference in the lives of local people.
Over the years we have had the pleasure of getting to know the people of the Mount Fox area and understanding their priorities. Input from local residents has been key in developing the project’s balanced and responsible design and shaping our regional community investment program.
As we work through the project approvals, we will continue to seek the community’s insights and provide opportunities for stakeholders to provide feedback. This will be face-to-face wherever possible, as well as through phone and email consultation.
The Gawara Baya Community Benefit Fund will support a positive legacy from Windlab’s presence across the region by delivering sustainable community and regional development initiatives aligned with community need.
The Community Benefit Fund will total $200,000 annually, with grants assessed and administered by a diverse board of community representatives, led by an independent Chair.
The Community Benefit Fund will be launched once the project reaches Financial Close, then continue throughout construction and the life of the project (35+ years).
Community Enrichment Program
Up to $10,000 per initiative
$100,000 per year
Community projects, events and initiatives with an emphasis on capacity building within the community.
Futures Fund
$100,000 per year
Larger regional infrastructure and development initiatives, identified in consultation with community, stakeholders, and government.
The Community Benefit Fund is separate to investment through the project’s Indigenous Land Use Agreement, which is specifically designed to support the rights of Traditional Owners, and education, employment, enterprise and capacity building initiatives for First Nations Peoples through the project.
Windlab acknowledges the Gugu Badhun People as the Traditional Owners of the land on which Gawara Baya will be located.
We honour the Gugu Badhun People’s deep and enduring connection to Country and community. We pay our respects to Gugu Badhun elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, everywhere.
As a renewable energy company our activities are inextricably linked to land. The Traditional Owners of the lands on which our projects are located and the regional communities that support our activities are at the heart of what we do.
In mid-2022, Windlab and Traditional Owners the Gugu Badhun registered the Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) for the project with Native Title. The ILUA puts Indigenous stewardship at the fore of the project’s environmental management strategy.
For more information on the ILUA, interested members of the Gugu Badhun community are encouraged to contact the Gugu Badhun Aboriginal Corporate RNTBC.
The clean energy transition is a priority focus at all levels of government in Australia. We see an enormous opportunity for the ‘Renewable Generation’ to support First Nations Peoples to achieve at their full potential through employment, procurement, and business engagement in the sector.
Windlab’s priority is to build respectful, trusting, and mutually beneficial partnerships with First Nations communities across Australia, support opportunities for Traditional Owners to participate in the development of Windlab’s projects, and demonstrate respect for First Nations culture, knowledge and agency in everything we do. In this way, Windlab aims to support Indigenous people to shape the direction of renewable energy developments on Country and across Australia.
