WSMCA calls for planning, investment ahead of potential major projects

Published on 27 February 2026

Councils across northern and western Victoria will use upcoming council meetings to consider a report that calls for proper investment and due diligence from the state and federal governments to ensure communities are prepared for major energy, transmission and mining projects.  

The Wimmera Southern Mallee Council Alliance (WSMCA) is part of a group of nine councils that commissioned Resource Ready: North-Western Victoria Energy & Mining Impact and Readiness Strategy to fully understand the type and nature of economic impacts the region could soon experience.  

Alliance members believe the impacts of proposed projects across multiple council boundaries make a coordinated, joint advocacy approach both practical and necessary.

The report has identified potential opportunities, including thousands of construction and ongoing jobs, as well as potential challenges such as further compounding the housing crisis, pressure on council‑owned assets including roads, limited investment in key services such as health, education and childcare, and impacts on farming.

The strategy proposes 44 evidence-based actions across eight priority themes, including community readiness, infrastructure development, housing solutions, workforce planning, and agricultural sector protection. These have been mapped to responsible departments within the state government and include: 

• Formalise and standardise community benefit schemes across the transmission, energy and mining projects to avoid duplication, maximise benefit and legacy, while also reducing administration overheads. 

• Prioritise and implement a Regional Worker Housing Plan to bring together existing housing studies to identify key locations and forms of housing across the region to service the expected construction periods.  
• Prioritise vocational training opportunities in occupations and skills required to support energy and mining projects by underwriting courses, regardless of student numbers. 
• Investigate innovative ways to deliver vocational training to increase the volume of participants, including mapping of existing skills to new skills and retraining. 
• Prepare an agriculture impact assessment of mining and energy projects bespoke to the northwest study area, taking into account the advantages and specialisations of the region and the potential for any cumulative impacts of major projects. 
• Embed economic development objectives for the energy and mining sector in relevant statutory approvals to facilitate approvals (where suitable) of new businesses and developments, capitalising on local opportunities, or enter voluntary codes of commitments to demonstrate place-based, fit for purpose responses. 

The alliance is calling on state and federal governments to fund the recommendations in the report and work collaboratively to ensure they are effectively implemented.  

Some WSMCA members have passed resolutions about specific transmission, renewable or mining projects or proposed renewable energy zones, and this does not conflict with endorsing the Resource Ready Strategy.

Northern Grampians Shire Council deputy mayor Justine Hide said endorsement of the strategy did not indicate support or opposition for a particular project, but reflected the councils’ role in planning and preparing communities. 

“Our council has strongly supported our farming community over the past three years in respect of their serious concerns about the renewables rollout," she said.

"We have also helped to initiate this impact and readiness strategy in order to meet our other obligations as a council to plan for major economic change.”  

You can download a copy of the report, here: Resource-Ready-Final-Report-16-February-2026.pdf(PDF, 7MB)