Author: Petra Stock
Some planning applications require a socio-economic assessment, also known as a social and economic impact assessment. The report assesses the wind farm's impact on the local community and surrounding area, including impacts on tourism and local and regional economy. The report will also usually investigate community attitudes towards wind farms.
What is a socio-economic assessment?
A socio-economic assessment describes the potential range of social and economic impacts resulting from the development of the proposed wind farm. You can have separate social and economic impact assessments, but as they're complementary and overlap in many respects they're often dealt with in the one report.
There is also a degree of crossover between this assessment and your consultation plan. You may decide to do the socio-economic impact assessment early in the detailed assessment phase, so you can use the findings to inform your consultation strategy.
Scoping the job for a consultant
The socio-economic assessment differs from other studies in the detailed assessment phase in that the scope is open-ended, and is largely determined by the proponent. Not all states require a socio-economic study as part of the development application and there are no strict guidelines on the methods used.
The level of community involvement in a socio-economic assessment can range from very limited (purely a desktop exercise) to substantial (using interviews, focus groups and surveys).
For this reason it's best to discuss the planning requirements in detail with the planning authority, whether that be the state or local government. Be sure to scope the planning requirements clearly and have the planning authority approve what you have written down, before you hand this scope to a consultant.
Information a consultant will need
In addition to the standard project description, GPS coordinates of the site and wind turbine locations, your consultant will need:
- projected expenditure in the local area, region, state, Australia and overseas
- projected employment figures during construction and operation
- background about how the community has responded to the wind farm proposal
- information on affected individuals and groups
- proposed level of community participation for the assessment and an estimation of the time and resources available
- details of the consultation plan, and responses from consultation already undertaken
- other relevant information such as media clips.
What to expect in the consultant report
The contents of the socio-economic assessment will be guided by the scope. A few things to look for are:
- analysis of demographic data (population, age, labour force participation, household income, size, dwelling occupancy and other relevant statistics) to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the local area and region
- a description of the site and nearby communities of interest in terms of their social and economic characteristics.
In addition to this, you should discuss the economic and social effects the project may have on the community. We've outlined more detail on this below.
Economic effects
This section should include:
- an explanation of the methods you've used to assess economic effects
- an estimate of the full time and part time jobs you'll create during construction
- an estimate of expenditure during construction and operation of the wind farm. You should break this down according to where the money will be spent (local area, region, state, Australia, overseas)
- flow-on effects (multiplier effects) as a result of expenditure in the local area and region, for example on services such as food, accommodation
- a discussion of other economic effects, such as impacts on property values, tourism, and agricultural production.
Social effects
This section should include:
- an explanation of the methods you've used to assess social effects
- a description of the existing social infrastructure (education, housing availability and affordability, health services, shopping and recreational facilities, community services, community organisations)
- a description of the characteristics and values of the local community (well-being, safety, lifestyle, aspirations and expectations for future, values and valued places, community cohesion and relationships)
- a discussion of community attitudes to living in the area, using findings from interviews, focus groups, and surveys
- a discussion of social impacts from the proposed wind farm
- recommended mitigation measures to address any negative social and economic impacts.