In April 2018, the three projects were "called in" by the Victorian Planning Minister, Richard Wynne, at the request of the City of Greater Shepparton, which did not feel it had relevant planning guidelines to give approval to the projects.

Using the projects as an example, the Minister then appointed a planning panel to develop new solar planning guidelines for the state.

In July this year, the Government released new planning guidelines for large-scale solar farms.

The guidelines were introduced to encourage investment and provide certainty for councils and developers around acceptable outcomes for land, communities and the environment.

Now, just weeks before the new guidelines are set to be adopted, the Minister has used the old guidelines to approve the three projects.