The Process

The process

[25.05] Public Environment Report (PER) is lodged with DCCEEW for EPBC determination (EPBC Referral 2023/09577)
[07.05] Planning permit application PA2503835 Gelliondale Wind Farm is approved by the Victorian government

Finalisation of Public Environment Report in response to DCCEEW comments on draft
Sponsorship of Strzelecki Koala Festival
Public notice period for PA2503835 Gelliondale Wind Farm commences in early January and closes in mid February
Sponsorship of Yarram Chalk-Art Festival

[17.07] Application for Planning Permit PA2503835 Gelliondale Wind Farm is lodged with DTP

[28.02] DEECA issued updated advice in response to our updated flora & fauna assessment; this necessitates more detail and survey data being added to the reports prior to resubmission

[07.11] Pre-application meeting with DTP regarding withdrawal of current State planning application and resubmission of the application with completely revised and updated flora & fauna assessment under the Development Facilitation Program
Sponsorship of Strzelecki Koala Festival

Targeted species surveys and bird & bat utilisation surveys continue, for inclusion in the State planning application as well as in the EPBC Public Environment Report (PER)
Sponsorship of Yarram Chalk-Art Festival
Sponsorship of Strzelecki Koala Festival

[17.10] Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) decision that ‘the proposed action is a controlled action’ and that ‘the project will be assessed by public environment report under the EPBC Act’.
[05.10] Received ‘biodiversity advice’ from DEECA, establishing a need for further seasonal ecological surveys before a planning decision can be made

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) referral open for public comment on DCCEEW EPBC Portal

[25.08] Request for Further Information (RFI) from Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) regarding State planning application

[28.07] State planning application submitted to Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)
[07.07] Request for Further Information (RFI) from Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), and re-submission of the EPBC referral

Flora and Fauna information session at Project Office
[12.06] Referral of the project to the Commonwealth Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)

Stakeholder engagement continues (community members, CFA, catchment management authority)
Supporting studies and impact assessment reports finalised
Fire risk assessment and heritage planning interface assessment undertaken
Project briefing provided to South Gippsland Shire Councillors and Gunaikurnai Land & Waters Aboriginal Corporation
Detailed grid connection investigations initiated
Project Office open every Thursday
Public Opinion Survey
Wind farm noise information session at Project Office
Sponsorship of Tarra Festival, and attendance at Street Market and Monday market events; about 150 visitors to the Gelliondale Wind Farm information marquee
Prepare planning application material for submission

Project referred for assessment under the Environment Effects Act 1978, seeking the advice of the Minister as to whether a statement (EES) should be prepared
EES referral review did not identify significant impacts, and therefore an EES does not need to be prepared for the project
Updated project information communicated to community members & stakeholders 5km from proposed wind turbines
Project Office opened in Yarram

Project briefing provided to Wellington Shire Councillors
Stakeholder and community engagement commenced
- Communication with Wellington Shire Coastal Ward councillors, state and federal members of parliament
- Communication with nearest neighbours to proposed site
Preliminary environmental assessments
Site botanical surveys