After the devastating effects of the Waroona, Australia bushfire, Western Power was faced with restoring power to 3000 homes. Waroona is located in the Peel District of Western Australia south of Perth.
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Problems and Purpose
Western Power faced the task of restoring utilities to an area devastated by natural disaster. The purpose of involving the community was to access and respond to the communities’ needs while trying to restore the power grid as efficiently as possible in order to help the community move forward with rebuilding their lives.
Background History and Context
The Waroona bushfire was ignited on January 6, 2016, by a lightning strike. The fire burned 70,000 hectares (172,973 acres), destroyed 121 houses, and 18 buildings of public importance, and ultimately claimed two lives. This also included the community of Yarloop which was excluded from the original restoration plans due to the risk of asbestos being airborne. Here Western Power relied heavily on the stakeholders to provide input to and guide the decision-making process. Western Power, which provides utilities for this region, lost 873 power poles, leaving 3000 homes without power. Western Power spent $26 million for repairs. They also used the opportunity to upgrade this section of the power grid, as it was one of the country’s most outdated. These improvements included 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) of an underground power line. Western Power’s involvement set a new precedent in the area for public engagement in a disaster response situation.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
Western Power is a Western Australian State government-owned corporation. They play a major role in remapping and rebuilding the settlements of Waroona, Yarloop, and surrounding areas in southwestern Australia. Their vision is to deliver the changing energy needs of Western Australians, powered by the community when in need.
Australia has a long history of citizen involvement, and this project was part of a larger government initiative to involve the community during and after an emergency. Western Power also worked in, close collaboration with the Shire of Harvey, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, and other agencies on the Yarloop restoration, which was a smaller community also affected by the Waroona bushfire.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Western Power collected people throughout WA that could help identify or inform on problems in the area. Mainly those who were directly impacted by issues at hand. Engineers, leaders, and business professionals were all used in fixing issues in the communities and determining who was gonna work where. Western Power’s intent was to have every affected voice heard, as the public’s knowledge and involvement helped them discover complexities that had to be dealt with to prioritize the restoration of power.
Incentives came in the form of helping people have their voices heard. These incentives along with wanting to join and help others in the community with issues regarding power, safety, and energy helped to get people involved. The community wanted their opinions heard on how the processes should be dealt with as most of the community was directly impacted by the decisions made.
Western Power used the public's input to develop a plan to restore power in a manner that best benefited the community. There are many examples of the public persuading the distribution of help before and after disasters. Communities would speak up on which areas were most heavily impacted and also areas that were most important to fix first. Western Power helped set up communications to keep communities connected during times of catastrophe, led to quick and efficient help for those who needed it immediately, and even led to improvements in their disaster response protocols.
Methods and Tools Used
Western Power approached this restoration project knowing that they needed to include the needs of the community in their decision-making process. Western Power thought that the widespread effect of the disaster event warranted a different approach than a normal power outage. During the early stages of the process, Western Power focused on reaching out to and providing the community with many different places times and modes of communication with the company. Western Power stated that their focus was simply to engage with the community for the purpose of informing the community on their progress and to take in information about how they as a service provider could help the community recover. A community engagement team responded to this event by reaching out to every part of the disconnected community and looking for ways to gain their feedback in a manner that was convenient for the community. Western Power stressed the need to make this process available and convenient for everyone in the affected area. To do this they spread their efforts among many different means of communication: going door to door, attending several community events, presenting meetings at evacuation centers, and using online modes such as social media and their website. Western Power had developed engagement guidelines to help the business respond to a community during an emergency based on, the lessons learned from their experience restoring power after bushfires near the communities of Parkerville in 2014, and Bullsbrook and Northcliffe in 2015. Western Power’s guidelines were to have an empathetic response available to the community throughout the response and recovery phases. During times of crisis, a community engagement team is deployed to respond swiftly to the community’s needs. In addition, a Community Caravan is deployed to the evacuation sites to provide current information on restoration efforts. The Community Caravan is a mobile site where people can gather to receive current information. The caravan stayed on site as long as the community required.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Public interaction was conducted primarily through the community engagement team and the community caravan described in the Methods and Tools section (above).
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Western Power’s received positive reviews from many community members. For example, an individual from the City of Mandurah said, “Despite their trauma and loss, I consistently heard glowing comments regarding Western Powers efforts to reconnect the community.”
Western Power used a process where participants/community that were directly affected, worked with those in charge of the final decisions would help them further developments and increase public awareness and participation. Having the public inform them on issues at hand, they were able to react to situations with plans already set and were well-informed.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
Western Power engaged isolated communities in an effort to involve them in the rebuilding process effectively giving a voice to those in the community that usually wouldn’t have the opportunity. Western Power engaged these communities face-to-face to get the correct information and make sure their process went as efficiently as possible. Challenges arose in the form of approaching the more dangerous and damaged areas affected, leading to tough decisions. Western Power has said to wants to include more of the public’s ideas and strategies in the future. One of the major challenges for Western Power was that the response required was three times larger than any previous emergency that Western Power had responded to. As a result, Western Power had to engage with multiple stakeholders across communication platforms in a way that would give them access to information that was honest, consistent, timely and relevant.
See Also
References
Medlen, P., (2016, January 19). WA fire: Western Power embarks on $26m overhaul of ruined network. Retrieved from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-19/waroona-yarloop-wa-fire-forces-western-power-network-rebuild/7098688
International Association for Public Participation,. (2017). 2017 Core Values Awards Showcase. Retrieved from: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.iap2.org/resource/resmgr/core_values/WEB_8.5x11_2017_Core_Values_.pdf
Western Power. (n.d.). Emergency Response Waroona Bushfire. Western Australia: Western Power
