Contact Energy has filed resource consent applications with the Tararua District Council for a 177 megawatt (MW) wind farm southeast of Dannevirke. The Waitahora project on the Puketoi Range would have up to 65 turbines ...

Yesterday, Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor received a letter from Mr Mallard notifying the council of the application for a "call-in". Resource consent applications for the proposed wind farm were lodged with local councils on August 8, and the city council had planned to appoint independent commissioners to hear the consent application, a process that could then be appealed to the Environment Court. But a call-in would mean the local authorities would lose the decision- making power ...

Horizons Regional Council is calling on local councils to get firm on where wind farms can go in Manawatu-Wanganui, or residents will have no certainty about what's being built next, or where. ..."The issue of wind farms has come along really quickly." The rules about what could go where had to be clarified, to put an end to the current case-by-case situation, he said. "They are dealt with in an ad-hoc method."

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard this week announced his intention to "call in" the 180 turbine Hauauru ma Raki wind farm planned for construction between Te Akau and Port Waikato. ...But while the move has been welcomed by applicants Contact Energy and Contact Wind, all three councils have told the Environment Ministry they consider such intervention inappropriate.

Under the Resource Management Act, the minister can call in a proposal if it is deemed to be of national significance and direct that the matter is referred to either a board of inquiry, or the Environment Court. In this case, the matter would be decided by a board instead of the relevant regional and district councils, Mr Mallard said today. ..."I consider this proposal to be of national significance. It is relevant to New Zealand's obligations to the global environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol.

A delay in commissioning of the second stage of turbines at the Te Rere Hau windfarm near Palmerston North caused NZ Windfarms Ltd to miss its prospectus revenue forecast. But the money earned interest, helping the company meet its profit forecast. The company, which has Vector Ltd as a cornerstone shareholder, reported a net profit of $2.42 million in the year to June 30 from a deficit of $352,000 a year ago. There was no dividend.

Two new wind farms will be built in southwest Victoria generating almost 200 megawatts of power - enough to power 97,000 homes. Planning permits have been granted for a wind farm at Ryan Corner near Port Fairy and the Hawkesdale wind farm, southeast of Hawkesdale. ... A planning permit was granted for 68 turbines at the Ryan Corner site after an independent panel assessment of an Environmental Effects Statement. An independent panel recommended a planning permit for 31 turbines be approved for the Hawkesdale site.

A pro-forma objection to the guidelines, making up many of the submissions, says they are an "inadequate framework" for the council and need to be amended. Those amendments should include: upholding any significant landscape overlay; not placing wind turbines within two kilometres of any residences; identification of any residence within a five kilometre radius; a noise assessment; public consultation and meetings; a section dedicated to the decommissioning of wind turbines; and the establishment of Section 173 agreements to inform future land purchasers of the possibility of a wind farm being created.

The energy company is holding an open day at the Waewaepa stockyard from 10am-2pm, to discuss yet another proposed farm - this time in the ranges east of Pahiatua. Many locals, some of whom only found out about the farm in a mailbox leaflet a month ago, were not impressed, Mr Taylor said. "They have put all the glossy brochures out, and all the bull**** and jellybeans or whatever you want to call it. I am not that rapt about it."

People who have already spoken out against the proposed Turitea wind farm are looking forward to reading the application. Objector Paul Stichbury said he disagreed with the project, because of its close proximity to Palmerston North's water supply and the affect it would have on the large number of people living close to it. "The public and the city really don't know exactly what's going on. About about 10 percent of the city is right under the wind farm."

At what was to be the last of four weeks in the initial six-week hearing, Judge Jon Jackson granted an application to present further evidence regarding the possible cumulative effects of Project Hayes and TrustPower's consented $400 million Mahinerangi wind farm. "Mahinerangi may, and I emphasise may, have cumulative or a cumulative effect when constructed, with this proposal [Project Hayes] on the Lammermoor Range and its surrounding environment. The Mahinerangi decision appears to change the environment which is the setting for Meridian's application," he said.

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.

The Mahinerangi wind farm's appeal decision could undermine Project Hayes' chances of getting approved, if the Environment Court allows new evidence to be introduced on cumulative effects. Judge Jon Jackson will decide today whether to grant a request by the Maniototo Environmental Society to introduce new material based on the cumulative landscape and visual effects of both wind farms. If approved, there could be a holdup with the Project Hayes wind farm appeal, to allow both parties to consider the new evidence.

A National-led Cabinet would decide which crucial projects to fast-track under its plans to shake up the Resource Management Act (RMA), party environment spokesman Nick Smith says. National says fixing the act would be one of its priorities if it wins this year's general election. It wants to introduce a two-phase system in which priority consents would have to be processed within nine months. The proposal, announced by party leader John Key and Smith at the weekend, has generated cautious interest.

Appellant party Maniototo Environmental Society (MES) counsel Mike Holm, of Auckland, lodged an application for new evidence to be heard in relation to possible cumulative effects of both Project Hayes and the Mahinerangi wind farm. As TrustPower's $400 million Mahinerangi project, which would sit southeast of the proposed Project Hayes site, was granted consent last month, there were possible cumulative effects of both developments to be considered by the Environment Court in dealing with Meridian's proposed 176-turbine farm on the Lammermoor Range.

The cumulative effects of the Mahinerangi wind farm and others around New Zealand needed to be considered before a decision could be made about Project Hayes, Environment Court judge Jon Jackson said in Cromwell yesterday. Judge Jackson was responding to a question from Maniototo Environmental Society counsel Mike Holm about the appropriateness of making an application for new evidence - including the Mahinerangi wind farm decision released by the Environment Court this week - to be heard. The judge agreed it was appropriate.

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.

Trustpower's $400 million Mahinerangi wind farm has been approved by the Environment Court, the Otago Daily Times has been told. No official details were available yesterday. Upland Landscape Protection Society legal co-ordinator Ewan Carr said in Cromwell yesterday the wind farm had been approved by the court, "subject to conditions". "But we don't know what the conditions are. We will reserve comment until we've a bit more understanding of the decision," he said.

Judge Jon Jackson, commissioners Alex Sutherland and Heather McConachy, and deputy commissioner Ken Fletcher will hear arguments relating to the construction logistics and effects of the 176-turbine development proposed for the Lammermoor Range. In May, the first two weeks of the six-week hearing centred on landscape and visual impacts of the wind farm. The next two weeks of hearings, held at the Golden Gate Lodge conference facility, are scheduled to adjourn on August 8, before the final two weeks of hearings take place at Dunedin in late August.

Opponents have vowed to fight for better State Government planning guidelines for wind farms after the Surf Coast Shire approved a 14-turbine farm near Winchelsea. Barrabool Hills Landscape Guardians maintain existing guidelines are riddled with holes, are outdated by technology and give potentially affected residents little voice. Councillors voted 6-3 in favour of the 700ha farm at Mt Pollock, bordered by Gnarwarre, Mt Pollock and Peels roads 10km from Winchelsea.