The councillors voted to move ahead with developing and refining a draft document because the group’s aims align broadly with the council’s own goals of achieving greater environmental, social and economic sustainability across the Bellingen Shire.

BSEA, formed in October 2013, is a community group working to increase shire-wide access to affordable electricity, energy efficiency measures and renewable energy supply thus progressively reducing carbon emissions as well as the social and economic impacts of ongoing electricity price increases.

The MoU adds weight to funding applications made by BSEA and opens the way for partnerships with other government agencies.

Cr Dominic King said it was a great step forward for the council.

“Community-owned energy is big in Europe and is now starting to gain traction here,” Cr King said.

“There are some good models, such as Enova, which give a lot back to the community.”