Seek First to Understand Before Being Understood

Abstract

The power industry has plans for an unprecedented level of capital expenditure over the next decade on projects that are required to meet increasing demand and reliability, and the replacement of aging infrastructure. A substantial proportion of this expenditure will be spent on overhead lines and major substations, assets that elicit increasingly more hostile reactions from the community. The mere suggestion of a proposal for a new sub-transmission line often brings out the “nimbys” on mass, making the job of the power industry increasingly more difficult. Overhead lines, underground cables and substations can inevitably impact on landholders and the community. Community scrutiny is increasing. Communities and individuals are better educated and informed, and are able to rally more readily than ever to demand involvement in the decision making about project outcomes. Informed and well organised communities can delay the roll out of major works. The community wants and deserves better justification, analysis and reasoning behind decisions. If stakeholder engagement is done well, it can lead to innovative solutions and stronger relationships with local communities, built on mutual respect and understanding. This involves a shift in mindset for infrastructure providers and their project teams. Through genuine engagement of key stakeholders, infrastructure providers can tap into the ideas and problem solving abilities from within communities to assist in identifying innovative solutions that are far more acceptable to all parties. This paper reflects on past and present attitudes and community consultation practices, and proposes a fresh approach that combines the technical skill and knowledge of engineers with a genuine desire to listen and understand landholders and the community. These partnerships can generate thought-provoking ideas for achieving creative and technically-sound solutions that are embraced by the community and landholders. The authors draw on experience and observation gained in community consultation and landholder negotiation in a major power infrastructure project in the Clarence Valley.