With the Illawarra’s offshore renewable energy zone (REZ) consultation ending on November 15 and a decision from the government not expected until next year, two Facebook group founders told us what’s next for their communities.

Incorporated

Good for the Gong has expanded off Facebook and become an incorporated association.

Founder Sean Moran said volunteers had pooled donations to pay a fee of about $200 and turn the Good for the Gong Facebook group into a non-partisan not-for-profit in early November.

“We’re very much in start-up mode,” he said. “We’ve put this together in a matter of weeks and – considering we’re a bunch of volunteers doing this in our spare time – have accomplished a lot.”

Sean said the volunteers wanted a legal set-up to give them a solid base for long-term involvement in offshore wind discussions.

“The process of developing an offshore wind farm is likely to take between five and 10 years,” he said.

“Our door is open to anyone from across the political spectrum who wants to join us in supporting good climate solutions.”

The REZ consult began on August 14 and Sean started the Facebook group in October, after seeing a flood of negative comments online.

“I was very frustrated, at times angry, that that sort of disinformation that was being put out there,” he said.

The goal was to counter misinformation and provide in principle support for the offshore wind area. “Good for the Gong was started by a bunch of local volunteers, who want to limit climate change by replacing coal and gas with renewables. It was a pretty organic sort of thing. I think a lot of people were feeling similarly frustrated, that this is one of our first big opportunities in decades to work on that transition – and a lot of us were frustrated to see that getting shouted down.”

Sean, who has a background in environmental engineering, now has help to run the group, which swiftly grew to 1.1k members. Two more admins are on board: Courtney Venaglia and Elliot Stein, a fourth-generation Thirroul local who is also president of Thirroul Labor, vice-president of the Thirroul Village Committee, on the TRIPS hall management committee and a volunteer at Coledale RSL. 

“We don’t have any financial backing,” Sean said, emphasising the group will remain non-partisan and won’t accept funding from political parties. 

Paused

While the social media debate became polarised, some groups tried to tread a middle ground. One such was The Illawarra Wind Farms Discussion Group (about 500 members), started by Damien Toogood.

“It was late September, very little information was available, we started with ‘Fact not opinion’ as our primary rule,” Damien said. “All posts had to be accompanied by a link of unquestionable integrity.

“We got facts out there very early on, with no resources in the challenging world of social. In our own small way, it got the community talking. I’m proud of that.”

Asked “what’s next?”, Damien said: “Social media is divisive. If we are not unified, our children will inherit a hellscape. We need a forum with the utmost integrity where we can constructively discuss renewable energy while protecting the last bastion of development, the ocean.”

Fellow admin Melissa Barnard said the closure of submissions was a chance to pause for reflection.

“Due to the huge time and energy constraints on the admins as individuals – with families and other jobs – we have put a pause on our group for the time being. All articles and comments on the group are still visible to read but no new posts or comments – for now.”

Discussions continue

The Coalition Against Offshore Wind (CAOW), with 2.3k members, No Offshore Wind Farms Illawarra (8k), No Offshore Wind Farm For The Illawarra (4.5k) all continued to receive 10+ posts daily almost two weeks after submissions closed.

After CAOW’s October 29 Flagstaff Hill rally, spokesperson and admin Grant Drinkwater told the Flame, “CAOW’s campaign has been funded by donations and T-shirt sales. We’re still just a grassroots organisation, just trying to do our best.

"We just try and be as factual as we can, and try and be realistic, and try to do it for the benefit of the community. That’s really what it’s all about.”

Read more in What's next for CAOW?