The South Australian Government has refused to vary major development approval of a wind farm proposed for the Myponga-Sellicks Hill area. ...He says major development status was given in 2002 and after years of delays and it is not appropriate to now vary the approval.

The Pyrenees Shire wants legal proof showing that it can be forced to take on the responsibility of monitoring the Waubra wind farm. The Victorian Government has given the task to the shire, but the shire says it has neither the financial resources or the staff to do it.

Motorimu Wind Farm has officially been scrapped. Liquidators for the company have "surrendered" its resource consent to Palmerston North City Council, ending any prospect of the 80-turbine farm near Tokomaru being built. Scrapping the farm came after a deal was struck between the liquidators and Mighty River Power.

Mighty River Power's planned positioning of some turbines at Turitea Wind Farm flies in the face of Palmerston North City Council's efforts to keep them away from houses, a board of inquiry has been told. The power company's 121-turbine proposal failed to meet the "spirit and intent" of the city council's 2006 decision that made a wind farm at Turitea possible, city lawyer John Maassen said.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett must approve the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, under national laws, before it can go ahead. The project has gone to the Federal Government because it has been found likely to have significant environmental impact. It now must be assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The future of the Mt Stuart development was in doubt for several months earlier this year after its original developers, NZ Windfarms Ltd, pulled back on taking it to the next level before selling the project to the Central Otago company Pioneer Generation.. The resource consent application for the nine-turbine wind farm attracted 15 submissions with all but one opposing the application.

After a lengthy debate, a set of guidelines to better help Hepburn Shire Council make planning decisions on wind turbines was adopted last night, but not without changes.

A revised set of guidelines to better help Hepburn Shire Council decide where, and if, wind farms can fit in certain areas will go before the council for the second time tonight. A decision on whether to adopt the guidelines was deferred for one month at the council's June ordinary meeting, after councillors decided changes needed to be made.

It will take 26 days over nine weeks, but the fate of Palmerston North's skyline will soon be known. A board of inquiry hearing into the Turitea Wind Farm application begins today at the Travelodge. It is scheduled to finish on September 2. State-owned power company Mighty River Power has applied to build a 122-turbine wind farm along the Tararua Ranges, in and around the Turitea Reserve.

The New South Wales Government has given planning approval for a wind farm at Gullen Range, near Goulburn in the state's south, despite an ongoing case in the Land and Environment Court. The Government has given the $250 million plan the green light after putting in place measures to protect the powerful owl and the wedgetail eagle.

A proposed wind farm in the Kakanui Ranges near Oamaru would be more efficient and lower-cost than a hydro power scheme, an expert witness has told the Environment Court. Meridian Energy is seeking to take water from Lake Waitaki and pass it through a tunnel and power station before discharging the water into the Waitaki River at Stonewall.

The announcement follows a recent proposal for a 50-megawatt wind turbine at Shannons Flat near Cooma by Sydney company CBD Energy Limited. The inquiry's chairman, Upper House Greens MP Ian Cohen, says it will look at the best locations for farms and their impact on property values.

More turbines could be spinning on the Tararua Ranges. NZ Windfarms has applied to expand the Te Rere Hau wind farm, asking for consent for another 56 turbines.

Plans for a small wind farm on one of the Clutha district's highest points will be reactivated by the project's new Central Otago-based owners. Pioneer Generation recently bought the Mt Stuart project from original developers NZ Windfarms Ltd for an undisclosed sum and will consult submitters to the original proposal before it continues with the consent process.

Contact Energy has succeeded in its bid for a 12-month delay to hearings into its proposed 180-turbine wind farm near Raglan in Waikato.

Waikato District Council wants the Government to introduce national standards for the siting of wind farms. At its policy committee meeting this week, the council signed up to support a Palmerston North City Council remit to the Local Government New Zealand annual meeting which would call upon the Government to develop a "national policy statement" on where and how wind farms could be built.

Complaints about shortcomings in expert evidence have become a recurring theme at the board of inquiry considering Contact Energy's plans for a 184-turbine Waikato wind farm. This continued during the sixth day of the hearing at Tuakau yesterday, when Contact witness Chris James the "lead wind farm civil designer" and a Beca-employed consultant, according to his evidence-in-chief copped a verbal mauling from the commissioners.

On the sixth day of the hearing at Tuakau yesterday, that continued when Contact witness Chris James the "lead wind farm civil designer" and a Beca-employed consultant, according to his evidence-in-chief copped a verbal mauling from commissioners. They even went as far as questioning his credentials and qualifications to be giving evidence on civil engineering matters for the Hauauru ma raki west coast project.

Environment Minister Nick Smith's decision to call-in the Turitea Wind Farm proposal is being questioned after official documents revealed the proposal failed to meet most of the criteria. In December last year, Dr Smith called-in Mighty River Power's consent application because it was "nationally significant".

Waitahora wind farm opponents are warning Contact Energy it's got a fight on its hands at Environment Court. Contact Energy yesterday announced it would lodge an appeal against a decision by the Tararua District Council and Horizons Regional Council to reject a planned wind farm out at Waitahora, about 10km north-west of Dannevirke.