The Government backs Meridian's 176-turbine Project Hayes as a solution to such energy shortages, having made an All-Of-Government submission in support of the Central Otago wind farm proposal currently before the Environment Court. "Yet we are being provided with a graphic illustration here and now that reliance on wind power doesn't work," said Sydney, speaking from a becalmed Central Otago. "It has been a calm few months nationwide - especially so in Central - so the contribution of the country's eight existing wind farms in averting an imminent energy crisis has been very poor.

Environment group Save Central has received an estimated $200,000 from the public since launching its national media campaign on Sunday. The money raised almost doubles the group's entire campaign funding, generated since its inception late last year. Spokesman Graye Shattky said the exact amount of funding generated since Sunday was not known, although it was close to, or possibly more than, $200,000. "That's what it cost us to get to this point, fighting Project Hayes in court. Now we are in a position where we have the same amount, if not more, to take us into the next phase," Mr Shattky said. He said Save Central will continue to campaign over energy issues and threatened landscapes after Project Hayes with any leftover funding.

Trustpower has reiterated that it may truck 72-tonne machines through Mosgiel's main street to its inland wind farm. But the Dunedin City Council's transportation operations manager, Don Hill, cannot see how that can be done. The power company wants to use Gordon Rd, if the Taieri River bridge on Allanton Rd cannot be strengthened, to truck heavy parts of machinery to the wind-farm site at Mahinerangi. TrustPower community relations managerGraeme Purches said the company had never intended to use Riccarton Rd. ...Under the consent conditions for the wind farms, the companies had to consult local authorities and prepare a traffic management plan, and those discussions had not taken place, Mr Hill said.

Approval for a $200 million wind farm in Te Uku is a "slap in the face" for Wel Networks consumers who love their power rebates and community grants. That's the view of staunch wind farm opponent and candidate in this month's Wel Energy Trust election, Rodger Gallagher though Trust chairman Garry Mallett disagrees with his assessment. Mr Gallagher was still awaiting his copy of the commissioners' resource consent judgment which last week gave the green light to Wel's proposed wind farm, but said the project would be a very expensive white elephant.

Save Central president Grahame Sydney says his anti-wind farm group would welcome further donations similar to that made by businessman and former All Black captain David Kirk. Mr Kirk, chief executive of media company Fairfax Australia, used his personal funds to pay for the full-page advertisement in yesterday's Fairfax-owned Sunday Star Times newspaper, which launched the lobby group's national publicity campaign.

Two East Taieri groups have made deals with power companies that mean little of the heavy traffic for the proposed Project Hayes and Mahinerangi wind farms will travel on Riccarton Rd. The agreement appears to leave a Dunedin City Council decision to select Riccarton Rd as an arterial route in limbo. ...Residents have been concerned about the effects on their road of increased vehicle movements and the possibility of trucks weighing up to 125 tonnes and as long as 60m using it, if the company's Project Hayes wind farm is built. The council has identified Riccarton Rd as an arterial route for heavy traffic, and has plans to widen the road between Dukes Rd and State Highway 87, and strengthen pavement and build a bridle path on Riccarton and Dukes Rds. The cost was recently estimated at $6.9 million.

A public meeting in Alexandra last night (21.05.08) called on the NZ Historic Places Trust Board to censure the Trust's senior management for ignoring local concerns regarding significant heritage issues in Central Otago, most contentiously Meridian Energy's proposal to build Project Hayes on the Old Dunstan Road. ..."Central Otago's valuable heritage, requires strong advocacy from groups capable of providing leadership on specific matters when necessary and not afraid to speak out publicly regarding the heritage aspects of statutory matters such as resource consent applications and plan changes. Because the Branch is not permitted to act independently in this regard, its reduced role might be likened rather to a ‘committee selling cakes to buy battleships'.

A community group is analysing WestWind Energy's planning application for its proposed Lal Lal Wind Farm. The proposal involves a wind farm split into two sections; one at Lal Lal and another at Elaine. Lal Lal and Elaine Landscape Action Group are currently analysing the planning application with its experts. Group spokesman John McMahon, has expressed his concern at the size of the proposed wind farms and turbine size.

A Gippsland resident has put up more than $15,000 of his own money for an advertising campaign against wind farms. Terry Vincent from Carrajung, north of Yarram, was spurred into action after hearing about Synergy Wind plans for a possible wind farm near his home. ...Mr. Vincent said each advertisement focused on a different aspect of wind farms including health concerns from the noise and light flicker, dangers to birds and bats, accidents, fires, visual amenity and greenhouse gases.

A group opposing wind farms says people should not jump to conclusions after a wind monitoring tower was knocked down in Winchelsea. Police believe the tower had its supporting cables cut. The Victorian Landscape Guardians president, Randall Bell, says it may not have been done by people against the wind farm development.

Vandals have sent an 80m wind monitoring tower in Winchelsea crashing to the ground causing about $100,000 damage. The destruction comes as the community continues to lobby against a proposal by Future Energy Pty Ltd to build 14 turbines in Gnarwarre, just outside Winchelsea.

Community support for Wel Networks' proposed Te Uku wind farm appears high in the latest survey of Raglan district residents. But opponents of the project say a closer look at the figures show support is actually plummeting. ..."Back in 2006, Versus found that four per cent of the people surveyed opposed the wind farm," he said. "The new research shows that the number opposing the wind farm has grown to 20 per cent. "That is a 400 per cent increase in those opposing the wind farm. And the number of undecided people has grown from nine per cent to 14 per cent. "Although Wel are trying to put a positive spin on it, overall support for the wind farm has plummeted.

Windflow chairman Barrie Leay strongly criticised Meridian Energy and other state-owned electricity generators on Tuesday for ignoring his company's turbines and spending more than $1 billion importing European turbines. However, Meridian Energy spokesman Alan Seay said the company's engineers had looked closely at Windflow's turbines, but they unanimously agreed they were not suitable. ...Windflow's 0.5 megawatt machines were not big enough, and Meridian's engineers had concerns about the noise generated by the two-bladed design, Seay said.

The Bourke Shire Council says the New South Wales Government has backed down on plans for compulsory acquisition of western lands leases. The Government had indicated it planned to reclaim parts of properties at Silverton, near Broken Hill, where wind turbines are proposed. The Bourke council was concerned about the potential loss of security for leaseholders and the threat it could pose to a wind farm planned for the shire.

In response to shareholder inquiries, the company yesterday released a progress update on the Te Rere Hau wind farm it is developing in a joint venture with a consortium of Australian infrastructure investor Babcock and Brown, and international power company NP Power. NZ Windfarms chief executive Chris Freear said progress on the site had been helped by settled and dry weather during the summer, but the construction was two months behind what the company outlined in its prospectus.

The study was headed by Professor Goran Strbac of Imperial College London and commissioned by Meridian Energy. It was not concerned with the cost of building and operating wind farms or of any additional transmission investment needed to connect them to the national grid. Rather it examined the additional costs of integrating wind power into the system which arises from the fact that it is variable (the wind doesn't blow all the time) and unpredictable (it may be blowing now but you can't be sure it will be in an hour's time). ...But it still means that the system has to have spare capacity to cope with times when wind is not available, and that comes at a cost.

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.

A tiny Surf Coast town has vowed to take on a developer who has proposed to build a wind farm near their homes. Future Energy Pty Ltd managing director David Shapero has lodged an application with Surf Coast Shire to build 14 turbines in Gnarwarre, just outside Winchelsea. Local residents said it would change the rural town's skyline, increase the dust, bring tourists to the area and there had been a lack of consultation. The wind farms are proposed to be built on a 700ha site which borders Gnarwarre Rd, Mt Pollock Rd and Peels Rd.

The Western Advocate reported that about 70 people attended the forum but less than half supported the wind farm concept. Nine landholders at the meeting said they would like a windfarm feasibility study to be conducted on their properties. The indications of support have been sufficient for the organisers, the Bathurst Community Climate Network, to press ahead with another planning meeting for next month with a view to establishing a working committee.

Energy company Synergy Wind has denied rumours it was planning to build a windfarm in the rural district of Carrajung. Speculation that the township had been targeted as a potential site for a windfarm gathered momentum after Synergy Wind staff were spotted conducting wind measurements in the area. While the company confirmed it did have staff in the area taking wind measurements, it said this was common practice across all regions of Victoria and New South Wales. ...Synergy Wind spokesperson Christian Spitzner revealed the residents of Carrajung had nothing to fear by the company's presence in the area. "We are investigating wind speeds and we are only in the early stages of testing and it will be a few months before we get an idea about the wind speeds and directions," Mr Spitzner said.