OSMI Australia has submitted its applications for planning approval to build the proposed Delburn Wind Farm to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
The final project design for which planning approval is being sought comprises up to 33 turbines with a maximum height of 250m.
‘Following extensive design review, we have managed to significantly reduce the environmental impacts of the project from those outlined in our earlier design that was referred to the department to determine if an EES was required’, Peter Marriott, OSMI Director said.
‘It has always been our intention to design a project that sits well within the surrounding environment and minimize impacts on our neighbours.’
‘The area of native vegetation to be impacted by the project has been reduced from 42 Ha to approximately 14 Ha with up to 54 large trees to be impacted. It is anticipated that over half of these trees will be able to be retained despite needing to be offset. All trees that do not need to be physically removed will be left in place unless they become a safety risk.’
‘Modelled noise outputs demonstrate our design target of 35dB for wind farm noise levels at residential dwellings has been achieved at all but a handful of houses. For those limited number of dwellings, the noise levels are modelled to be in the 35-37dB range, well below the statutory limit of 40dB – or background plus 5dB.’
The documents are now being reviewed for completeness by the planning division of DELWP and if found to be complete will be accepted for assessment. Once DELWP advises that the application has been accepted for assessment, all the documents will be published on the OSMI website.
The timing and process for the formal public comment period is controlled by the Department, however OSMI has requested that the project be ‘called in’ by the Minister for Planning to allow an independent planning panel to be convened giving the community the opportunity to put forward their views on the project through a public hearing process.
OSMI will provide regular updates as the approval progresses and outline opportunities for the community to provide input into the decision-making process.
The application has required a large number of documents be prepared to assess the project and the planning permit application in total comprises over 2000 pages of information. OSMI will be preparing and publishing summaries of the information that is included in each report to assist the community in navigating the documentation.
