New England Renewable Energy Zone Transmission Project - Social Impact Assessment Survey

The New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) will be serviced by new network infrastructure, including transmission lines, energy hubs and enabling infrastructure which will transfer power generated by solar, wind and storage projects to electricity consumers. This infrastructure is considered critical for the successful operation of the REZ and is referred to as the New England REZ network infrastructure project (the project).

As part of the current planning and assessment phase of the project, EnergyCo has engaged Umwelt to undertake a comprehensive Social Impact Assessment (SIA) as part of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The SIA seeks to understand community and stakeholder views, interests, and concerns and identify potential impacts of the project (positive and negative), with the aim of identifying strategies to minimise negative effects and to enhance opportunities and social benefits.

We are seeking feedback from various groups across the community to understand, from your perspective, the social impacts which may be experienced because of the project. For this reason, we invite you to take part in this survey.

Information collected via this survey will be used to inform the SIA. All information and written data will be retained by Umwelt Australia and will be reported in de-identified form in the SIA Report. The information you provide will be used to compile aggregated information for public reporting and no specific details on individuals or family/community groups will be reported publicly. Information recorded will not be used for any other purpose.

The information you provide will be treated in confidence and will not be released to or used by any persons or organisations other than EnergyCo and their consultants. Umwelt is collecting information for the purpose of determining potential social impacts associated with the project, unless otherwise agreed.

Your name and any personal information that you choose to provide will be stored only for the purpose of statistical analysis and to ensure feedback or future correspondence can be provided as required or preferred.

Participation in the SIA consultation is completely voluntary. By completing the survey, you are agreeing for your data to be considered in the SIA analysis.

For more information about the project, you can visit our website please visit https://www.energyco.nsw.gov.au/ne You can find information about the project on EnergyCo’s website at energyco.nsw.gov.au/ne or contact the New England REZ community engagement team by calling 1800 061 114 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or by emailing nerez@energyco.nsw.gov.au.

If you have questions regarding the use and/or storage of data collected via this survey, please contact the Umwelt social team at social-team@umwelt.com.au.