In an interview with The Australian in Canberra yesterday, Mr Garrett [the Environment Minister] said he was worried by the number of wind farm proposals that had been refused because of objections by the local community. "Australians have got to realise the time has come to embrace wind and wind farms in appropriate locations, bearing in mind they are going to be visible on the landscape -- that a 'not in my back yard' kind of mentality won't see us rolling out the deployment of wind that we need," Mr Garrett said.

From the top of canola-rich Stockyard Hill, Gary Tayler sees no problem. Green energy company Wind Power plans to build Victoria's biggest wind farm - 282 turbines - in his patch west of Ballarat. He wants 22 of them on his property. ..."We couldn't see any reason why we wouldn't do it," Mr Tayler says. "Most of the turbines will go on to what is stone country. When a situation like this that is not going to interrupt what we're doing comes along, why not take it?" Cassie Franzose is on the other side of the fence, literally and figuratively. From behind the stone walls of the Federation-era property Mawallok, she says wind farms have their place, just not here.

The Palmerston North City Council last night took the first steps towards developing best-practice guidelines for the development of wind farms in the city's boundaries. At the planning and policy committee meeting, councillors voted to instruct staff to start working on guidelines to help steer wind-farm development in the future. The idea was moved by Cr Michael Feyen, and seconded by Cr John Hornblow. Cr Feyen said it was essential to start the ball rolling, before the hills were inundated with turbines.

The South Australian Opposition says the Myponga Sellicks Hill wind farm south of Adelaide will be an environment disaster if it is built. They are calling on the State Government to stop the project going ahead. The farm was announced in 2003 and will be built by TrustPower.

The power of the people must be used to stop windmills from sullying the Tararua landscape - or the district will be ruined forever, Waitahora wind farm opposers say. ...[deputy chairman Stuart] Brown is urging people to read these submissions carefully. Power companies want to remove the protection of natural features, such as the skyline of the ranges, currently included in the plan, Mr Brown said. And their suggestions that council should consider windmills as "key parts of the natural landscape" and view all rural areas as "industrial" are ludicrous, he said.

Artist Grahame Sydney has defaced prints of one of his most famous paintings and is selling them to raise money to fund protest group Save Central's fight against wind-farm development in Central Otago. Sydney, a strong opponent of wind farms being built in Central Otago, is president of the Save Central group. The 760mm by 1520mm defaced prints of Timeless Land had turbines painted in blood red, graffiti-style, across the landscape to emphasise the viciousness of wind-farm proposals, Sydney said.

Genesis Energy, Trustpower, Meridian Energy and Mighty River Power have all made separate submissions to the Tararua district plan, currently up for review. They are campaigning for new policies to make wind farms a priority in the district, and pushing for a slackening of present guidelines. In the current policy on environmental heritage, the skyline of the ranges in the district is considered a protected natural feature. Trustpower wants this wording cut, with references to the protection of the "skyline of Tararua Ranges, Ruahine Ranges, Puketoi Ranges, and Manawatu Gorge", deleted from the plan entirely.

Opposition planning spokesman Matthew Guy said yesterday the Liberal Nationals Coalition would protect the state's greatest natural assets from wind farms. "The State Government's emphatic promise to defend our iconic natural assets from wind facilities is in tatters with the revelation that Acciona Energy has been allowed to build a $50 million 15-turbine wind farm on the doorstep of the Twelve Apostles and the Great Ocean Road," Mr Guy said.

A $50 million wind farm will be built near Victoria's top coastal attractions, despite State Government promises to keep turbines away from the Great Ocean Rd. The Government says the Newfield wind farm, about 12km from the Twelve Apostles in the southwest, will bring jobs to Victoria and boost renewable energy. But residents say it could be the start of a flood of wind turbines near environmentally sensitive coast land. The Acciona Energy wind farm will include 15 turbines that are 110m tall.

The beautiful Puketoi ranges will be turned into an "industrial park" if locals don't put a stop to the proposed Waitahora wind farm, the head of an opposition group says. Last week, Contact Energy announced plans for a $500 million, 177-megawatt wind farm on the remote Puketoi ranges, east of Pahiatua.

Families around Myponga and Sellicks Hill on the Fleurieu Peninsula are fighting the State Government, local council, and an international electricity generator to preserve their region. Yet the power company which residents say is threatening their tranquillity advertises itself as green, friendly and environment-conscious. TrustPower is a New Zealand generator which wants to build a wind farm on the hills behind Mt Terrible and around Heatherdale Hill close to Myponga, on two ridgelines some 8km long.

The Project Hayes wind farm Environment Court hearing has been abandoned until next year after opponents won the right to present new evidence. Effectively this means all the expert witnesses for both Meridian Energy and appellant groups relating to landscape and visual effects as well as transmission might have to be recalled. The new evidence relates to cumulative effects based on the Mahinerangi wind farm.

Plans for a multimillion dollar wind farm near Crookwell have re-opened old wounds in the Yass Valley. ...Epuron sold the planning rights for the Gunning and Yass wind farm projects to Origin Energy in January and recently submitted environmental and engineering investigations for the Gullen Range wind farm project to the NSW Department of Planning for approval. The news has re-ignited the concerns and emotions of property owners in the Black Range area who continue to fervently oppose the building of turbine towers on Conroy's Gap.

Dr Lloyd said the overall effect of vegetation clearance would have a more than minor effect on the area's ecology, although the clearance would not occur in a single area, but would be dispersed in small areas across the site. In his written evidence, Dr Lloyd said road construction along the alignment of existing farm tracks would have minor effects on indigenous vegetation, but the construction of turbines, new roads, and significant extensions to existing roads would result in the clearance of indigenous tussock grassland which was more than minor.

Perth councillors drew public applause tonight when they denied permission for a new city building to site wind-turbine power generators on its roof. The three bright-red vertical turbines would have reached 9m above the roof of a five-storey building under construction on the southern side of Adelaide Tce, with frontages to Terrrace Rd and Victoria Ave. Neighbours in surrounding high-rise apartments had complained that the Dutch-designed turbines would create a visual eyesore and unnecessary noise, affecting the values of their properties.

Wellington City Council planners have recommended the proposed Mill Creek wind farm in the Ohariu Valley be given the go-ahead – but with fewer wind turbines. The Council planning officer’s report to the upcoming hearing on Meridian Energy’s proposed wind farm recommends approval be given for 25 turbines rather than the 31 turbines proposed by Meridian Energy. Council Local Area Planning Manager Dougal List says the removal of six turbines at the southern end of the site would lessen the visual and ecological impact of the wind farm.

A decision will be made in coming months on whether the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm needs an Environmental Effects Statement. Wind Power made the referral to the Planning Minister Justin Madden last month for its proposed 282-turbine wind farm. If Mr Madden finds the project would have a significant environmental impact, the company must prepare an EES document. Wind Power engineer Ross Richards said the company had worked with the Department of Sustainability and Environment to reduce possible environmental impacts, working out the best location for the turbines.

In evidence to the Central Otago District Council last year Meridian acknowledged the turbines each of which will have a rotor roughly the size of a Boeing 747 would have an adverse visual impact on the nearby Paerau Valley. But it produced photographic mock-ups suggesting that from other vantage points the mountain block on which they would be arrayed would remain the dominant visual feature. However, Sydney says the windfarm will "industrialise" the landscape for vast distances. "What happens when you put that number of wind turbines of that size in the landscape is that they actually become the landscape. You don't see anything else really."

Fred Murray, a society committee member, said yesterday the wind farm would "irretrievably" destroy the environmental values of the ridgeline and the "primeval" feel of the landscape would be lost because of the supporting roading. "The ridge's dominant position in the landscape and visually overwhelming natural character would be spoiled by the imposition of the towers, the road, which involves massive amounts of cut and fill, working areas and the disposal of excess rock," he said.

Wellington City Council released the results of the submissions on Meridian's proposed industrial wind installation that is bitterly opposed by almost all of the 100 or so residents of the small community to the west of Wellington. Of about 780 submissions received by the council, 410 were against, 380 for and there were five neutral submissions on the proposed wind farm. ... "The residents of Wellington are not silly and are waking up to the real effects of industrial wind turbines too close to homes, and the potential for more to follow. Questions are also being asked about whether these huge investments are actually as economic or as green as they are made out to be to the general public."