Weaver leads project to power the Bellarine

A NEW project spearheaded by a Barwon Heads local is aiming to power the Bellarine with 100 per cent renewable energy.

Karen Weaver is the brain behind 100% Clean Bellarine, a project inspired by Victorian towns such as Newstead and and Yackandandah that are pursuing 100 per cent locally generated, grid-connected, reliable, and affordable renewable energy solutions.

Ms Weaver will lead a local team, which met for the first time on Sunday, who will plan to map out a similar strategy for the Bellarine.

“I’ve been privileged to work in the environmental sustainability sector for my entire career and see this as an opportunity to work on something in my own backyard that will benefit my children and my children’s children,” Ms Weaver said.

The 100% Clean Bellarine project was voted as a flagship project during consultation for the City of Greater Geelong’s Community Zero Carbon Action Plan.

Ms Weaver has applied for funding via the City of Greater Geelong’s 2018 Environment and Sustainability Grant Program to develop a feasibility study and short-form business case.

Should the funding application be successful, she will form a project team and launch a process of community and industry consultation that will determine the footprint for the project.

The project will run for an extended timeframe and will require support and assistance from volunteers.

Ms Weaver is putting out a call to people with an interest in renewable energy and sustainability who possess skills such as community consultation, finance, and economics, project management, marketing, and communications to be members of the project governance team; 100% Clean Bellarine also needs people who are simply passionate, enthusiastic and able to be casual volunteers for events.

If you are interested in being involved, email [email protected] and put the word “Volunteer” in the subject line.

Please provide your full name, email address and phone number and be sure to outline your skills, availability and specify whether you’d like to become part of the governance team or a casual volunteer.

To learn more about the project, follow “100% Clean Bellarine” on Facebook.