Decision register for historical Beneficiary requests and Trustee administrative requests, read as part of the record's documentary custody and verification pathway.
Freedom of Information provides a lawful process for obtaining documents held by public agencies. Within this record, FOI decisions help identify what documentary material agencies hold, disclose, rely upon, or state they cannot locate.
The Freedom of Information record forms an important component of the Trustee's administrative and evidentiary record. This page identifies the FOI decisions presently published in the record and explains, in plain English, the purpose and outcome of each decision.
The FOI register helps readers see what documents public authorities identified, released, withheld, or said they could not locate. It is read alongside the Framework, Documentary Verification, Documents and issue pages.
The register is divided into two phases: historical Beneficiary FOIs and Trustee administrative FOIs.
| Collection | Agency | Reference | Purpose / subject | Outcome | Document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trustee | Moorabool Shire Council | SR.142870 | Formal commissioning certificates, notifications, milestone registers and internal commissioning records | Council recorded searches and a decision of no documents found. | Open PDF |
| Trustee | Department of Transport and Planning | CS019200 | Commissioning, completion, handover and existence-based authority records | Eight documents located under the 17 July 2026 decision; specified commissioning and completion records not located; one document withheld. On 4 August 2026, DTP issued a supplementary clarification stating that, following relevant enquiries, it was unable to locate any documents in response to Part 4 concerning documentary authority for the identified departures from the NZS 6808:2010 definitions. | Decision · Trustee clarification · 4 August supplementary clarification |
| Historical Beneficiary | EPA Victoria | FOI-002-2024 | NMP and pre-construction noise reports | Access granted in full to three identified documents. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | EPA Victoria | FOI-031-2024 | Auditor / peer review documents for pre-construction assessments | EPA identified zero documents relevant to the request. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | EPA Victoria | FOI-060-2024 | Auditor verification of the Noise Management Plan | EPA identified zero documents relevant to the request. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | EPA Victoria | FOI-100-2025 | Broad historical request for reports, NMP, annual statements and records concerning NZS definitions | EPA identified nine documents and granted access in full, subject to third-party review timing and personal affairs redactions. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | Moorabool Shire Council | SR23397 | K15aa pre-construction baseline noise monitoring report | Council advised no relevant document was in its possession and recorded advice received from Lal Lal Wind Farm. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | Moorabool Shire Council | SR62774 | Auditor / peer-review record for the Sonus LLWF Pre-construction Noise Assessment S5464C11 | Section 17(2) consultation issued. Council distinguished the June 2018 assessment from an earlier version understood to have been peer reviewed in April 2018. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | Department of Transport and Planning | CS015466 | Pre-construction reports, verification / peer reviews, post-construction assessment and operational environmental management material | DTP located two documents, granted access in part to one and refused access in full to one. | Open PDF |
| Historical Beneficiary | Department of Transport and Planning | CS015467 | Whether the SLR February 2021 baseline report had been submitted to DTP / Minister / Responsible Authority | DTP advised that searches did not locate any information relevant to the request. | Open PDF |
| Trustee | Moorabool Shire Council | SR.139279 | Elaine Meteorological Monitoring Facility approvals or endorsements | No documents found within scope; administrative correspondence was released separately. | Open PDF |
| Trustee | Moorabool Shire Council | SR.140441 | Council reconsideration of noise complaint handling records | Fresh decision granted access in part to one document and maintained exemption over one internal working document. | Open PDF |
| Trustee | Moorabool Shire Council | SR.142870 | Commissioning date records and Condition 12 documents | No documents found following searches of Council records. | Open PDF |
| Trustee | EPA Victoria | FOI-010-2026 | Pollution reports, statutory notice material, LLWF responses and consultant reports | EPA identified 19 documents; 15 released in full, three in part and one refused in full. | Open PDF |
| Trustee | Department of Transport and Planning | CS019241 | NCTP Revision 5, secondary consent, endorsement status and permit-amendment relationship | DTP located 27 documents and granted access in part; the decision records that the revised NCTP was withdrawn by the proponent in July 2024 and never endorsed. | Open PDF |
These requests were made by the Beneficiary in a private capacity before establishment of the Trustee's formal administrative record. They provided important historical context and assisted in identifying technical reports, planning records and regulatory documents that later informed the Trustee's administrative record.
Purpose: Request for the Lal Lal Wind Farm Noise Management Plan, Sonus pre-construction noise assessment and Marshall Day background noise monitoring report.
Outcome: EPA identified three documents, comprising 185 pages, and granted access in full to all three, subject to personal affairs information being outside scope.
Purpose: Request for auditor / peer-review documents relating to pre-construction noise assessments.
Outcome: EPA identified zero responsive documents. The outcome concerns separate auditor / peer-review material; it does not state that the Sonus assessment itself did not exist.
Purpose: Request for EPA auditor verification of the Lal Lal Wind Farm Noise Management Plan.
Outcome: EPA identified zero documents, advising that the operator is only required to provide the auditor-verified NMP to EPA if requested by EPA.
Purpose: Broader historical request for pre-construction material, auditor reports, NMP material, annual statements, commencement records and documents concerning NZS 6808:2010 definitions.
Outcome: EPA identified nine relevant documents comprising 221 pages and granted access in full to all nine documents, subject to personal affairs redactions and third-party review timing.
Purpose: Request for an SLR 2018 pre-construction baseline noise monitoring report at K15aa.
Outcome: Council advised that no relevant documents were in its possession and recorded advice from Lal Lal Wind Farm concerning the reference to the K15aa report.
Purpose: Request concerning an Environmental Auditor report or peer review of the June 2018 Sonus Pre-construction Noise Assessment S5464C11.
Administrative record: Council issued a section 17(2) consultation letter stating its understanding that the June 2018 assessment was not itself subject to an auditor report or peer review on or after June 2018, and referring instead to an earlier version understood to have been reviewed in April 2018.
Purpose: Requests concerning pre-construction reports, verification / peer reviews, post-construction assessment material and whether the February 2021 SLR baseline report had been submitted to DTP or the Minister.
Outcome: CS015466 located and released the June 2018 Sonus assessment S5464C11. The released material was the assessment itself, not a separate verification or peer-review report corresponding specifically with that later assessment. CS015467 located no documents relevant to the February 2021 submission-date request.
These requests were made by LEWIS TROJAN HORSE PTY LTD as Trustee during development of the Trustee's administrative and evidentiary record.
Purpose: Trustee request for EPA-held records relating to pollution reports, statutory notice material, LLWF responses, consultant reports and associated regulatory records.
Outcome: EPA identified 19 responsive documents comprising approximately 419 pages. Access was granted in full to 15 documents, granted in part to three documents and refused in full to one document.
Purpose: Trustee request concerning the asserted Revision 5 Noise Compliance Test Plan, secondary consent pathway, endorsement status and relationship to the proposed permit amendment.
Outcome: DTP located 27 responsive documents and granted access in part. The decision records that the proposed revised NCTP was formally withdrawn by the proponent in July 2024 and was never endorsed.
Purpose: Trustee request for formal approval, consent, authorisation or endorsement records relating to the Elaine Meteorological Monitoring Facility.
Outcome: Council recorded that no documents were found within scope and that correspondence had been released separately as an administrative release.
Purpose: Trustee request and reconsideration concerning Council noise complaint handling records.
Outcome: Following reconsideration, Council granted access in part to one document and maintained exemption over one internal working document. The decision records further searches and access charges.
Purpose: Trustee request for formal commissioning certificates, written notifications or database records concerning the commissioning date of the wind farm or last turbine.
Outcome: Council recorded that no documents were found following searches of Council files and consultation with relevant officers.
The FOI decisions do not themselves determine compliance, breach, liability or legal rights. They record the documents public authorities identified, released, withheld, or confirmed were not located following statutory disclosure processes.
Each Freedom of Information decision forms part of the record's documentary custody record. Together, the decisions and released documents help establish the provenance of material relied upon throughout the record.
EPA FOI-002-2024, EPA FOI-031-2024 and DTP FOI CS015466 are read together on the pre-construction acoustic pathway to show which assessment and Environmental Auditor materials were identified through formal agency searches.
This register remains the central index of FOI decisions. As individual agency pages are published, relevant EPA, DTP, Council and AEIC disclosure records will also be cross-linked from those pages so readers can understand custody in its proper agency context.
The June 2018 Sonus report and any separate Environmental Auditor peer-review document are not the same record. DTP located and released S5464C11. EPA FOI-031-2024 identified no responsive auditor / peer-review documents. The record records both outcomes without treating the absence of a disclosed document as proof that it never existed.
The ARUP verification statements consistently identify the Marshall Day predictive assessment by title, consultant, report number and date. EPA FOI-002-2024 used that identifying wording, but different material was issued through that FOI pathway. DTP FOI CS015466 records Document 1 as not located and separately released the June 2018 Sonus assessment.
These entries publish the decision notices and the related Trustee correspondence as a documentary sequence.
Request: formal records concerning commissioning of the wind farm as a whole and the final turbine, including certificates, written notifications, milestone registers and internal records.
Decision dated 15 April 2026: Council recorded that searches were undertaken and that no documents were found within the stated scope.
Subsequent record: the Governance — Administrative Record Clarification dated 22 April 2026 records why the milestone matters to the documentary chronology and requests confirmation of Council's administrative position.
Decision dated 17 July 2026: DTP recorded eight documents located. The decision states that no commissioning certificates, individual turbine commissioning records, practical completion certificates or handover certificates were located. One document was withheld on legal professional privilege grounds.
Trustee clarification: the Trustee requested correction or confirmation of the applicant identity and clarification of whether Part 4—the existence-based request concerning any authority permitting departure from specified NZS 6808:2010 definitions—had been determined.
Supplementary clarification dated 4 August 2026: DTP stated that, following relevant enquiries, it was unable to locate any documents in response to Part 4. The letter states that it supplements the decision dated 17 July 2026.
Documentary position: this records the outcome of DTP's statutory disclosure searches. It does not, by itself, determine whether an authority existed elsewhere, whether a departure occurred, or the legal or compliance consequences of the disclosed record.
The record records that the earlier and later EPA FOI pathways disclosed the same Version 3.0 Noise Management Plan dated 18 October 2022. Later EPA correspondence described the October 2022 document as a draft and stated that a completed final NMP had not been provided.
