Draft National Wind Farm Development Guidelines - July 2010

Prepare expert evidence (as required)
Expert evidence should be prepared, as required, for presentation at a planning hearing.
The evidence should be largely based on discussion and results provided in the noise
impact assessment report. Any additional issues raised during submissions should also be
addressed.
B.4.3
Construction
The design of the wind farm should be finalised prior to commencement of construction.
This may require revisiting the noise impact assessment due to minor changes in turbine
layout or changes in turbine type. Depending on the extent of changes, the relevant
authority may require issue of a finalised noise impact assessment report to confirm
compliance with the noise criteria for the finalised wind farm design.
A set of complaints handling procedures should also be developed prior to
commencement of construction. This should include procedures for handling complaints
received firstly during construction, but also during operation of the wind farm and possibly
also during decommissioning.
Once construction begins, state regulations may require construction noise monitoring to
be carried out.
The tasks to be carried out during this phase are detailed below.
Finalisation of wind farm design
• Address planning permit conditions (as required)
Where a planning permit is issued it may include provision for additional assessment
work to be carried out or for clarification/additional details of the noise impact
assessment to be provided to the relevant authority. Issues can include:
Carrying out background noise level monitoring at additional receivers
Revising noise emission predictions
Any such outstanding issues should be addressed with the supplementary assessment
information supplied to the relevant authority.
• Finalise wind farm design
A significant amount of time can elapse between granting a planning permit for a
wind farm development and the preparation for commencement of works on site.
During this time further minor changes to the wind farm design can be made.
Likely changes may include:
Finalising turbine type.
Finalising wind farm layout.
Finalising compliance with noise criteria and requirements for any noise
management setting.
Any such changes should be addressed and all new information consolidated into a
finalised noise impact assessment report, if required, in order to complete all planning
and design application issues prior to construction.
• Address land use planning considerations
In addition to finalising the noise impact assessment report, it is suggested that a set of
contour maps be issued to the regulating authority showing the predicted contour of
the minimum noise level limit. This may be used by the regulating authority to inform
prospective buyers of real estate within the zone defined by the contour of the effects
of the wind farm development. This may be particularly helpful during the period of
Draft National Wind Farm Development Guidelines – 2 July 2010 Page 55