Glossary

What does it mean? The wind farm near Elaine and Yendon, south-east of Ballarat, examined by this website.
Why does it matter? The website examines whether the available documents show that this wind farm's planning, technical and regulatory obligations are being met.
Key dates: 30 April 2009 — Planning Permit approved; May 2018 — construction commenced; 18–19 November 2019 — final-turbine commissioning milestone implied by the public landscaping chronology; 18–19 November 2020 — corresponding landscaping closure dates; 10 December 2020 — later operator commissioning date reported in the agency record.
Read more: Start Here.

What does it mean? The period during which the physical wind farm infrastructure was built.
How it is used: Construction is the transitional phase between pre-construction monitoring and the later operational (post-construction) assessment of the wind farm. It marks the period during which the physical infrastructure is built before commissioning begins.
Why it matters: Construction timing matters because it separates pre-construction monitoring and assessment from commissioning, post-construction monitoring and later compliance activities.
Key period: May 2018–November 2019.
Referenced throughout: Start Here, Chronology, Technical Reports.
Read more: Chronology.

What does it mean? The process of testing and bringing completed wind turbines into service, culminating in the commissioning of the final wind turbine.
How it is used: The documentary record uses the commissioning of the final turbine as an important chronological reference point for planning, compliance, monitoring and reporting obligations.
Why it matters: The commissioning of the last turbine is used throughout the planning framework as a reference point for time-dependent obligations. The endorsed Noise Compliance Testing Plan, prepared and approved through Permit Conditions 24 and 25, schedules compliance monitoring during the first two months and between 10 and 12 months following commissioning of the last turbine. Permit Condition 12(b) requires off-site landscaping offers to remain available until 12 months after commissioning of the last turbine, and Condition 17(b) requires a bat and bird monitoring program of at least two years from commissioning of the last turbine.
Key documentary reference: The Community Reference Group minutes dated 4 December 2019 state that the landscaping program would close 12 months after commissioning of the last turbine and identify 18 November 2020 as the closure date, thereby implying 18 November 2019 as the commissioning milestone. The June 2020 Community Bulletin states 19 November 2020 as the closure date, implying 19 November 2019. A later agency record separately reports 10 December 2020 as the date on which the last turbine was commissioned and the wind farm commenced operating. These source-specific dates are examined in the Commissioning Gateway, Chronology and Agency Records pages.
Referenced throughout: Start Here, Chronology, Framework, NCTP, Key Project Dates.
Read more: Start Here, Commissioning Gateway, Chronology, Key Project Dates, NCTP, Agency RecordsOmbudsman ComplaintsProfessional Standards.

What does it mean? Acoustic monitoring, prediction and assessment undertaken before wind farm operation.
How it is used: This includes the earlier planning-stage assessment, Marshall Day background monitoring, Sonus predictive assessments and associated Environmental Auditor peer review material.
Why it matters: It separates the predictive and background record established before operation from construction, commissioning and later post-construction compliance assessment.
Key period: Prior to May 2018.
Referenced throughout: Start Here, Framework, Chronology, K15aa, NZS 6808 and Technical Reports.
Read more: Pre-construction Acoustic Assessments, Technical Reports.

What does it mean? Monitoring and assessment undertaken after construction as part of evaluating operational wind farm sound.
How it is used: The post-construction pathway is governed by the Planning Permit, NZS 6808:2010 and the endorsed Noise Compliance Testing Plan.
Why it matters: It provides the operational assessment record against which mandatory methodology and reporting can be examined.
Key period: From October 2019, when construction was recorded as complete and reliability testing and commissioning were continuing.
Referenced throughout: NCTP, SAC, Verification, Technical Reports.
Read more: NCTP, SAC.

What does it mean? The job a document performs in the record.
Why does it matter? A prediction, an approved plan, a monitoring report, an auditor letter and an FOI release do different things. A document should not be treated as proof of something it was not prepared to establish.
Read more: Understanding the Record.

What does it mean? Checking whether the available documents allow a reader to follow each required step and see the evidence for it.
Why does it matter? It is how the website tests the record: what was required, what was found, what remains unexplained, and how the issue was answered when raised.
Read more: Documentary Verification.

What does it mean? The documents that have actually been provided, released or otherwise made available.
Why does it matter? The website assesses the evidence that can be seen. It does not assume that an unseen document exists or answers a gap.
Read more: Verification.

What does it mean? An independent auditor role referred to in the regulatory and technical record.
How it is used: Auditor material is relevant to the Noise Management Plan, regulatory reliance and later administrative record.
Why it matters: The website asks what auditor material is disclosed and whether the record identifies the basis for regulatory reliance.
Referenced throughout: Framework, Verification, Documents, Record Status.
Read more: Documentary Verification, Documents.

What does it mean? An independent review by an EPA-appointed Environmental Auditor, supported where necessary by technical specialists.
How it is used: The AECOM report dated 30 April 2018 records peer review of the April 2018 Sonus pre-construction assessment.
Read more: Pre-construction Acoustic Assessments.

What does it mean? Independent review by an appointed environmental auditor of whether the NMP meets the applicable regulatory requirements.
How it is used: EPA correspondence records a verification request in November 2023 and later states that auditor review remained outstanding.
Why it matters: The record must distinguish between an NMP being supplied, an auditor being asked to review it, and completed auditor verification.
Read more: Noise Management Plan, Documentary Verification.

What does it mean? Public authorities and statutory bodies responsible for parts of the planning or regulatory system.
Why does it matter? The website publishes the questions put to regulators, the responses received and, where applicable, the lack of a response.
Read more: Agency RecordsOmbudsman ComplaintsProfessional Standards.

What does it mean? The public authorities whose documents form part of this record, including EPA Victoria, DTP, Moorabool Shire Council and the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner.
Why it matters: Each authority has a different role. The website presents their records separately so that correspondence, reliance and disclosure are not confused.
Read more: Agency Records gateway.

What does it mean? A legal process used to request documents from public authorities.
Why does it matter? FOI decisions show what an agency located, released, withheld or said it could not find. They can therefore reveal both evidence and gaps in the agency record.
Read more: FOI Register.

What does it mean? The requests, correspondence, FOI decisions, documents and stated positions connected with one public authority.
Why does it matter? It shows what the authority was asked, what it provided, what it said, and what remained unanswered.
Read more: Agency RecordsOmbudsman ComplaintsProfessional Standards.

What does it mean? The documents showing how requirements, reports, regulator correspondence and decisions developed over time.
Why does it matter? It helps readers compare what was required with what regulators later relied upon or said in response.
Read more: Agency RecordsOmbudsman ComplaintsProfessional Standards.