Back

Regional leaders united on securing lasting community benefits from renewables

RE-Alliance

Wednesday 16 September, 2026

For immediate release

A hundred regional leaders and community representatives have gathered in Toowoomba for a two-day summit concluding today, focused on ensuring large-scale renewable energy development delivers lasting benefits for host communities.

Across regional Australia, the conversation is moving beyond whether to host renewable energy projects to how they can be managed well and deliver for local people.

Participants have shared practical approaches to managing impacts, negotiating with developers and how to ensure host communities receive a fair share of the benefits. They include representatives from Queensland councils Toowoomba and Western Downs, Community Foundations Australia, and regional leaders from all states and territories.

RE-Alliance National Director Andrew Bray said across Australia, regional communities often took a pragmatic view of large-scale renewable energy development.

“Across Australia, people facing large-scale renewable energy development understand our electricity system is changing and want a genuine say in how that change unfolds,” said Bray.

“These communities are not giving every project a blank cheque. They are asking practical questions: Is it in the right place? How will the impacts be managed? Who benefits and how? And what will remain after the construction crews leave?

“The national debate keeps asking whether regional people are for or against renewables. Regional leaders are asking a better question: how do we make this work for our communities?”

Toowoomba Region Mayor Geoff McDonald said the scale of proposed renewable energy development around Millmerran and Cecil Plains highlighted the need to plan for communities as well as projects.

 

"Around five gigawatts of wind and solar generation is proposed for this part of our region, enough to power approximately two million homes," Mayor McDonald said.

 

"While that represents significant private investment, communities need to see long-term benefits from that activity.

 

"Managing impacts on housing, roads, infrastructure and local services is essential. Beyond that, communities should be able to leverage this investment to strengthen their towns, create opportunities for local people and leave a positive legacy for future generations.

 

"Regional Queensland is playing a major role in Australia's energy transition, and it is important the communities supporting that transition share in the benefits."

Western Downs Region Mayor Andrew Smith said energy development had helped the region diversify its economy and create opportunities for young people who might otherwise leave.

“We used to export our clever kids to universities across the eastern seaboard, and too often they didn’t come home because the opportunities weren’t here,” Mayor Smith said.

“Regional leaders have a responsibility to keep looking for opportunities that can grow our economies, create jobs and sustain our smaller communities. That doesn’t mean saying yes to every proposal—we can say no at any point—but once you close the door, it can be very difficult to open it again.

“For some communities further west, energy development may be their best opportunity in 50 or even 100 years to build a stronger, more sustainable local economy.

“If political leaders don’t support that development, they need to answer a basic question: if it’s not energy, what is it going to be?”

The experience in New South Wales also showed that communities affected by contentious infrastructure were looking beyond a simple debate about support or opposition, Community Foundation Snowy Valleys Region Chair Louise Halsey said.

The Foundation is a locally led philanthropic organisation that supports community development and renewal across the Snowy Valleys Region through grants, partnerships and long-term community giving.

“Our communities know that major infrastructure can bring disruption as well as opportunity,” Halsey said.

“The question for us is not simply whether an individual project is right or wrong. It is whether local people have a meaningful role in deciding what these developments leave behind and in the process of how the community is receiving benefits.

“Community benefit contributions should create a lasting asset for the whole region—supporting priorities such as young people, education, health, social connection and community resilience for generations. They are separate from fixing project impacts or making private payments to individual landholders and council core business, while recognising all LGAs where major infrastructure developments occur must be compensated. 

“That requires early community involvement, transparent decisions and local stewardship. Communities should not be presented with a finished agreement and asked to be grateful for whatever has already been decided.”

The Regional Leaders Summit, convened by RE-Alliance, brings together rural and regional leaders from across Australia who are working to shape renewable energy development in their communities.

ENDS

Media interviews available today:

• Andrew Bray, National Director, RE-Alliance

• Cr Geoff McDonald, Mayor, Toowoomba Regional Council

• Cr Andrew Smith, Mayor, Western Downs Regional Council

• Louise Halsey, Chair, Community Foundation Snowy Valleys Region

Media contact:
Monica Tan
Communications Director, RE-Alliance
0425 243 750
[email protected]

Event: Regional Leaders Summit
Date: 15 & 16 September 2026
Venue: Empire Theatre, 54–56 Neil Street, Toowoomba

Contact details:

Monica Tan, Communications Director at RE-Alliance on 0425 243 750 or via [email protected]