The Swanbank Clean Energy Hub held its first Community Reference Group (CRG) meeting on 29 May at the Providence Community Centre in South Ripley.

We have been fortunate to assemble a fantastic CRG – with people as young as 15 right through to their 80s; members of First Nations communities; residents with connections to Ipswich’s European settlers as well as more recent arrivals representing the city’s rapidly growing population; people with technical knowledge of renewable energy and others who are deeply involved in their community through work and volunteering.

Read about our CRG members.

Some of the CRG members participated in the codesign process CleanCo held last year to develop a masterplan for the Swanbank Clean Energy Hub. The first meeting focussed on outlining the history of the project – for those who were completely new to it – and updating the group on what we had done since the codesign process.

Swanbank Site Manager, Trevor Turner shared information with the CRG about the upcoming C5 overhaul and the operational side of the site. Clean Energy Hub Program Manager, Darryl Myers gave an overview of the hub and outlined the opportunities for community infrastructure as well as energy generation and storage.

The local knowledge and insights of the CRG members will be a sounding board for CleanCo as we progress a range of projects associated with the Swanbank Clean Energy Hub. We will also be looking to the CRG for advice about the best channels/mechanisms for engaging with the Ipswich community.

CRG meetings will be held at South Ripley on a quarterly basis, with the next meeting planned for July.