Project Approval and Documents
Gullen Range Wind Farm was granted a Project (Development) Approval from the Land and Environment Court in 2009. The Project Approval was modified in 2015, with a revised set of Development Approval conditions issued.
The following key terms are important when reading this page:
- DA – Project (or Development) Approval
- DPE – NSW Department of Planning and Environment
- EPA – Environmental Protection Authority
- EPL – Environmental Protection Licence (as issued by the EPA)
For details of documents considered by DPE when the wind farm was approved, please visit the DPE website by clicking here. This link includes the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the project.
For details of documents considered by DPE in 2015 when the Project Approval (or DA) was modified, click here.
Certain conditions of the DA require the production of management plans, monitoring and reports. The table below summarises each of these conditions and provides links to download these documents. Please refer to the Project Approval in conjunction with this table. The Project Approval can be downloaded here.
| DA Condition | Document for download | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2.7 – Shadow-flicker | Shadow-flicker Report | Shadow-flicker assessment arising from the operation of the wind farm. |
| 2.21 – Verification of Operational Noise Performance | Operational Noise Testing Report (July 2015) | An operational noise testing report (dated 17/7/15) was produced and reviewed by DPE under condition 2.21c) and d). |
| 2.35 – Compensatory Habitat Package | Compensatory Habitat Package (CHP) | The CHP describes how to offset in perpetuity the value of habitat lost as a result of the project (updated July 2016). |
| Property Vegetation Plan (PVP) | Developed in conjunction with the CHP to ensure habitat lost is offset in perpetuity. | |
| CHP Reports and Surveys
2023 CHP Annual Report, |
Reports and surveys carried out for the CHP. | |
| 2.54 – Pre-Construction Television and Radio Assessment Report | Pre-Construction Television and Radio Assessment Report | Provides an assessment of the existing quality of the television/radio transmission available at a representative sample of residential dwellings located within 5 kilometres of any wind turbine. |
| 3.1 – Bird and Bat Monitoring | Bird and Bat Monitoring Plan | Describes how bird and bat monitoring is undertaken (updated in April 2016). |
| Bird and Bat Monitoring Reports: Year 1, Year 2 | Reports on monitoring conducted under the Bird and Bat Monitoring Plan for Year 1 and 2 of wind farm operation
Reports on additional Wedge-Tailed Eagle surveying conducted in Years 3 and 4 of operation. |
|
| 3.3 – Independent Environmental Audit | Independent Environmental Audit Report | NGRWF commissioned Beca Pty Ltd to undertake an independent environmental audit for the project |
| NGRWF audit report responses | NGRWF’s responses to Beca’s audit report | |
| 5.3 – Community Information Plan | Community Information Plan | Describes how we manage communication with the community. Minor updates were made in 2024 in conjunction with the Community Consultative Committee. |
| Community Information Plan Review: 2018 Review, 2019 Review, 2020 Review, 2021 Review, 2022 Review, 2023-2024 Review | Annual reviews of the engagement activities performed under the Community Information Plan | |
| 5.2 and 5.4 – Complaints | Complaints Register | Register of complaints received about the wind farm, updated monthly. |
| 5.6 – Community Enhancement Program | Community Enhancement Program (CEP) | Document defining how the Community Fund and the Clean Energy Program work. |
| Clean Energy Program Reports: Year 1 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 2 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 3 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 4 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 5 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 6 Annual Report and Audit Report ; Year 7 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 8 Annual Report and Audit Report; Year 9 Annual Report and Audit Report | Annual reports and Audit reports on the Clean Energy Program | |
| 5.7 – Community Consultative Committee | CCC Advertisement, CCC Poster | Advertising for members of the CCC (2015/16) |
| Details of Independent Chair | The independent chair of the CCC is Peter Gordon, as appointed by DPIE. This describes Peter’s professional background. | |
| 6.1 – Compliance Tracking Program | Pre-Operations Compliance Report | Reports of the compliance status of the wind farm with the DA prior to commencing operation (December 2014). |
| Compliance Tracking Program | Sets out information necessary to the tracking of environmental compliance under Project Approval 07_0118 (updated in July 2022). |
|
| Annual Environmental Management Report 2023
Annual Environmental Management Report 2022 Annual Environmental Management Report 2021 Annual Environmental Management Report 2020 Annual Environmental Management Report 2019 Annual Environmental Management Report 2018 |
Annual reports on the compliance status of the wind farm | |
| 7.4 – Operational Environmental Management Plan | Operational Environmental Management Plan | Operational Environmental Management Plan (November 2016). Defines how the environmental performance of the wind farm is managed. |
| 7.7 and 7.8 – Decommissioning Environmental Management Plan | Decommissioning Environmental Management Plan (December 2016) | The DEMP identifies the relevant environmental issues, risks, compliance requirements and environmental commitments for decommissioning of the Gullen Range Wind Farm. |
Gullen Range Wind Farm operates under an Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) issued by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The current EPL can be downloaded here.
Certain conditions of the EPL require Gullen Range Wind Farm to prepare reports or undertake testing. The table below summarises these conditions and provides links to download relevant documents:
| EPL Condition | Document for download |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| EPL General | PIRMP | The EPA requires the wind farm to have a Pollution Incident Response Management Plan, updated annually. |
| EPL General | Operational Noise Testing Report (July 2015) | An operational noise testing report (dated 17/7/15) was produced and reviewed by EPA and DPE. Testing was not a requirement of the EPL, but is relevant. |
| EPL U8U1.1 | Supplementary Noise Testing Report (Dec 2015) | EPL condition U8U1.1 required further noise testing to be undertaken (in addition to July 2015 report). This report details that testing. |
Gullen Range Wind Farm also has several policies which are not required under the DA or EPL, but are relevant to the community. These policies are available in the table below:
| Document for Download | Description |
|---|---|
| Out of Hours Work Policy | A policy describing the procedure for completing out of hours works on the wind farm. |