Development Consent

The White Rock Solar Farm project received Development Consent from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) on 14 June 2016. The Development Consent was granted under provisions of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979.

A minor project modification was lodged and approved in December 2017 to include a temporary carparking area located next to the fenced solar farm entrance, and vary the underground 33 kV cable route between the solar farm and wind farm.

The associated documents, including the Environmental Impact Statement and the Conditions of Consent can be found on the NSW Department of Planning and Environment major project register.

The following key stages made up the Development Application process:

• A Development Application for the solar farm project was submitted to the NSW DPE on 10 March 2016. The Development Application was supported by an Environmental Impact Statement that addressed the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements for the project. It described the proposed project, the potential environmental issues and impacts and the proposed mitigation of potential impacts.
• The Environmental Impact Statement was placed on public exhibition by DPE from 22 March 2016 to 26 April 2016 and, in parallel, was referred to government agencies by DPE. As a result, seven submissions were received from government agencies. No submissions were received from non-government sectors of the community.
• DPE provided copies of the submissions to the proponent and the proponent’s response to submissions was submitted to DPE on 17 May 2016. DPE then reviewed all information relevant to the Development Application and determined the application on 14 June 2016 subject to Conditions of Consent.