ASSESSING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH

CHANGES IN THE COAL MINING INDUSTRY IN THE BOWEN BASIN,

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

Galina Ivanova and John Rolfe

Centre for Social Science Research,Central Queensland University

Rockhampton, Australia.

Advancing social and economic impact assessment

Limitations of traditional social and economic assessment techniques

Need mechanisms that consider S&E impacts simultaneously

The use of these approaches trialled in the project:

- Choice modelling

- Experimental workshops

Choice modelling survey Blackwater and the Bauhinia Shire

Survey on perceptions of residents towards living in Blackwater (the Bauhinia Shire) and coal mining industry operations (background, demographic, context issues and choice sets)

- Phone and mail follow up (Blackwater & the Bauhinia Shire) - Door knock (Blackwater) - Short survey in work camps (Blackwater)

Response rate – 74% 304 usable responses in Blackwater 190 usable responses in the Bauhinia Shire

The survey:How do you perceive your community to live in?

0102030405060708090

100

peop

le ar

e frien

dly

safe

place

to liv

e

good

mix

of peo

ple

good

mix

of age

gro

ups

good

plac

e to

brin

g up

kids

stable

com

mun

ity

relaxe

d lifes

tyle

high in

volve

men

t with

spo

rt

conv

enien

t acc

ess t

o othe

r cen

tres

coun

try to

wn asp

ect

%

The Bauhinia Shire

Blackwater

The survey: Community perceptions of mines

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100

supp

ort loc

al bus

ines

ses

inves

tmen

t env

ironm

ent

know

ledg

e of

loca

l nee

ds

cost

burd

ens o

n Cou

ncil

worry if

mines c

lose

down

mine

s foc

us o

n prod

uction

mine

s con

tribu

te to

com

mun

ity

%

The Bauhinia Shire

Blackwater

The survey: Mines and development

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

hous

e price

s are

goo

d

cont

racto

rs go

od fo

r tow

n

crim

e & so

cial p

roblem

s

new m

ining f

amilie

s

not a

s saf

e due

to tr

affic

surv

ive w

ithou

t coa

l mine

s

no sa

y

%

The Bauhinia Shire

Blackwater

The survey: Engaging with community

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Coal MiningCompanies

Shire Council

%

leaflets

consultations

regular surveys

community input

work with stategovernment

communitydecide

Blackwater Bauhinia Shire

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Coal MiningCompanies

Shire Council

%

leaflets

consultations

regular surveys

community input

work with stategovernment

communitydecide

The choice modelling technique

a stated preference technique

involves asking respondents to make a series of choices about alternative scenarios

each choice set involves a number of profiles describing the alternatives on offer

one of the profiles describes a current or future status quo option, and remains constant between the choice sets (default option)

other alternatives - some improvements on the current situation, but with some monetary cost implications

The choice modelling sample setThis is the 1st out of 4 questionsPlease treat each set of choices independently of others, i.e. do not change your answers

Option 1 Option 2

Population grows by 5% Population grows by 10%

Jobs for partners/children very rare Jobs for partners/children easily available

Good choice of restaurants but few social events available

Few restaurants but variety of social events available each weekend

Standard of medical services improves by 10%

Standard of medical services improves by 50%

Shopping and services in Emerald and Rockhampton increases by 20%

Shopping and services in Emerald and Rockhampton increases by 50%

Proportion of jobs in the Bauhinia Shire holding by people living elsewhere increases by 20%

Proportion of jobs in the Bauhinia Shire holding by people living elsewhere increases by 60%

You have to spend an extra $200/year ($17/month) of your disposable income

You have to spend an extra $1,000/year ($85/month) of your disposable income

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3 (I would not support either option)

Option 4 (Unsure)

The choice modelling technique, Part worth

Blackwater The Bauhinia Shire

Constant - $7,212.07 -$4,275.57

Population change (per %) Not signif. $21.48

Jobs for partners/children $938.37 $676.53

Entertainment and social events $592.70 Not signif.

Standard of medical facilities (per %) $28.47 $10.72

Shopping and services in nearby centres (per %) $17.57 $16.41

Increase in proportion of jobs held by people who don’t live in town (per %) - $41.88 -$19.06

The experimental workshops

3 experimental workshops in each town (Blackwater and Springsure)

- Blackwater - 23 participants- the Bauhinia Shire - 35 participants

focused on the same key attributes used in the choice modelling study

focus group of the survey helped in the design of the workshops

The experimental workshops

rank the six key attributes in order of importance

apportion an identified budget amount between each of the six areas (the same budget for each respondent)

5 rounds - the level of budget was changed in each round

discussion section

repeat the ranking of the six key attributes (whether the participation and discussion changed perceptions)

The experimental workshops A short rating survey

Please rate each of the following options in relation to the future development of Blackwater from most (1) to least (5) important.

Very important

Important A bit important

Not very important

Not important at all

1 2 3 4 5

Increased population growth

Jobs for partners/children

Entertainment

Standard of medical facilities

Shopping and services in Emerald and Rockhampton

Proportion of jobs held by people who don’t live in Blackwater

The experimental workshops

Blackwater Bauhinia Shire

1

2

3

4

5

Population Jobs for partners Entertainment Medical Shops Proportion of Jobs5=

very

impo

rtant

, 1=n

ot im

porta

nt at

all

before

after

1

2

3

4

5

Population Jobs for partners Entertainment Medical Shops Proportion of Jobs

5=ve

ry im

porta

nt, 1=

not im

porta

nt at

all

before

after

The experimental workshops: Proportions of budgets allocated by area

0.0%5.0%

10.0%15.0%20.0%25.0%30.0%35.0%40.0%45.0%50.0%

Population

Jobs

Entertainment

Medical

Shopping

New Jobs

Blackwater Bauhinia Shire

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Population

Jobs for partners

Entertainment

Medical

Shopping

New Jobs

Summary a range of tools to choose from, traditional tools - many advantages but also some difficulties

alternative assessment mechanisms - choice modelling - experimental workshop

a great deal of consistency in the results from the different techniques

each of the tested techniques provided some different insights into the types of impacts on communities

choice modelling and experimental workshops are complements rather than replacements for more traditional types of social and economic impact assessment,

further work to develop these tools and include them in impact assessment processes appear warranted.