Ms Ryan expressed her concerns with the ambiguous nature of the guidelines, which were released for public comment in October.
The State Member for Euroa said the Victorian government had dumped decisions about solar farms on councils without proper guidelines, adding unnecessary pressure to local planning teams that were already under-resourced.
The release of the draft guidelines came after four large-scale solar farm applications were due to be decided on at a Greater Shepparton City Council meeting this year.
Before the meeting, Mr Wynne called in the applications, taking the decision out of the council’s hands until an independent panel established a set of guidelines.
Ms Ryan said many residents of the Euroa electorate believed the solar planning legislation was inadequate.
‘‘It is completely unreasonable to expect local councils to give solar farm applications the thorough consideration they need when there are no specific guidelines to adhere to,’’ she said.
‘‘Without strict planning guidelines, councils are given no other option but to accept or reject applications.
‘‘Residents feel that councils are being pressured by solar companies to push through their applications in haste.’’
The Victorian government said the draft guidelines were developed to help outline the assessment and development process for large-scale solar energy facilities in Victoria.
The document was informed by a review of guidelines and best practice standards used in other states and countries and includes an outline of requirements for planning and assessing new solar energy facility proposals.
The government said the final guidelines would be developed through community and industry consultation, which had started on the Engage Victoria website.
The draft guidelines will be open for comment until March 1.
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