Crows Nest Shire Council s chief executive officer says the ongoing dispute over the wind farm for Upper Pinelands continues with the council and objectors failing to reach a mediated agreement. Mr David McEvoy said the council was hoping to reach an agreement with opponents of the wind farm, which would preclude the need for the case to go before a Planning and Environment Court judge.

Details of any planned compensation for landowners whose property values may fall because of a proposal to establish a wind farm near Gore will remain secret after a ruling from the panel hearing the application. TrustPower, which wants to build a large wind farm at Kaiwera Downs, southwest of Gore, had sent affected landowners a letter last December which responded to concerns about the negative impact the development would have on their property values.

All Black hooker Anton Oliver continued his campaign against Meridian Energy's proposed Project Hayes wind farm - this time with the media in tow. The rugby heavyweight presented a 75-minute, 21-page submission against the proposal, before a public gallery for a resource consents hearing in Alexandra yesterday, the Otago Daily Times reports.

LIVERPOOL Plains Shire Council (LPSC) has given the go ahead to a $9 million wind farm near Murrurundi. Now all the developers need is the same support from Upper Hunter Shire Council.

A group opposed to a planned wind farm six kilometres west of Sedan says the development technically cannot proceed because it is in the Adelaide hills face zone. Pacific Hydro is hoping to submit a development application later in the year.

Opponents of Contact Energy's proposed 180-turbine wind farm on Waikato's west coast have claimed a victory after the electricity firm said it would seek an adjournment of the hearing into the controversial project. Contact will ask for a 12-month adjournment at Monday's board of inquiry proceedings so it can carry out more research, geotechnical assessments and surveying work.

Groups opposed to plans for the country's biggest wind farm say they will take their case to the Environment Court. The 176-turbine project near Ranfurly in Central Otago was granted resource consent on Wednesday. ...While four of the commissioners accepted the argument that Lammermoor Range is not an outstanding natural landscape, one, John Mathews, disagreed. Opposition groups say that gives them strong grounds to take the case to the Environment Court.

Three quarters of the people who want a board of inquiry to listen to their arguments about the redesigned Turitea Wind Farm proposal won't get the chance to present their views aloud. Just 26 submitters out of 103 who indicated they wanted to speak have been given a slot by the board.

Opponents of a Trustpower windfarm planned for southern central Otago say they fear a new "wind-rush" in the region that could destroy its landscape and reputation.

Crows Nest Shire Mayor Geoff Patch says a $270 million wind farm approved by the Planning and Environment Court this week would bring major environmental, employment and economic benefits to the region. But spokesman for a group opposing the wind farm, Jim Harper, has vowed to fight on against the project.

Opponents of a proposed wind farm at The Sisters hold faint hopes that new Baillieu government planning guidelines will block the controversial project. The proposal has been before the Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and is now awaiting an appeal application ruling.

Contact Energy could face opposition to its proposed route for power pylons connecting the country's largest wind farm to the national grid. The company wants to put up to 218 wind turbines along a 40km stretch of coast between Raglan and Port Waikato. ...The plan has received support from farmers and local iwi, but the path of the pylons is more contentious. Franklin District councillor, Lionel Petterson, says the community is concerned about the environmental impact of another row of pylons in the area.

Opponents of a 37-turbine wind farm proposed to be built on Te Waka Range, west of Napier, say it will have significant adverse effects on the environment and the visual landscape. The Environment Court is considering evidence from three organisations including local iwi opposed to the wind farm. It would provide sufficient power for 50,000 households. Counsel for the Outstanding Landscape Preservation Society says the site is within an area considered an outstanding natural landscape. Mathew McClelland says the turbines will dominate and disrupt the visual landscape and compromise the range's integrity. He says the benefits of wind power are undeniable but it is totally inappropriate to put turbines on the top of the range as they will appear as a clutter of mechanical structures.

Plans have been unveiled to create one of the largest wind farms in Australia at a cost of more than $200 million on the scenic outskirts of Orange. The Central Western Daily has revealed the details of a proposal by investment bank Babcock and Brown to build at least 40 turbines to the south of the city near Forest Reefs. ... A year of data testing is now under way, with three specially constructed 80 metre high mast towers designed to measure wind speeds now in place at the peak of the area's ridge line.

Major Australasian power provider Origin Energy has purchased two proposed wind farm precincts in the Yass Valley area. The takeover of the planned Coppabella Hills and Marilba Hills wind farm precincts from energy provider Epuron indicates Origin is confident of receiving State Government consent for the $1 billion plus project.

Origin Energy says a potential protest has influenced its decision to cancel a public meeting about the Stockyard Hill wind farm. The company will instead offer one-on-one consultations from Sunday until Wednesday, which must be booked ahead.

Origin Energy has submitted its draft planning application for Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, west of Ballarat. The proposal is for a 242-turbine wind farm, with a capital cost of $1.4 billion.

A community group has been formed to oppose a planned wind farm between Crystal Brook and the Beetaloo Reservoir, near Port Pirie in South Australia. But a development application is yet to be submitted by Origin Energy.

The head of the Christchurch lines company Orion says there is an urgent need for initiatives to ensure an adequate power supplies for Auckland.

The green light to build the world's biggest wind farm in Central Otago hinges on consent hearings which got underway on Monday. Meridian Energy wants to erect more than 170 giant turbines many as tall as a 45-storey building in an area opponents say is too beautiful to be spoiled.