A proposal to build a $180 million wind farm along the hill ridges at Waterloo has been dusted off after sitting on the shelf for the past three years. Initially proposed by Hydro Tasmania, now Roaring40s, the 39-turbine wind farm got the official nod of approval from local councils in 2005. Roaring40s public relations and communications manager Josh Bradshaw visited the region last week and spoke to Clare and Gilbert Valleys and Goyder councils about the project and plans to expand on the original development, to include turbines at Stony Gap and Robertstown.

An Environmental Effects Statement was not required for a 282-turbine wind farm at Stockyard Hill because the project would not have a significant environmental impact. Planning Minister Justin Madden made the decision on September 29 after preliminary ecological investigations indicated there was unlikely to be significant effects on threatened fauna. In his decision, Mr Madden took into consideration the fact the project site mostly consisted of cleared agricultural land.

The Merredin Shire last week approved the construction of a wind farm by joint venturers Collgar Wind Farm and the CSIRO backed Windlab Systems. Investec Bank (Australia) Limited will fund and develop the $600 million project, which will comprise of 127 wind turbines capable of generating up to 267 megawatts of power, enough to power about 160,000 homes a year. Investec project manager Mark Headland said there were excellent opportunities for local business involvement during the wind farm's construction phase.

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.

A shire media release said Ross Richards told them that the proposed Tuki Wind Farm was temporarily on hold because of "the price of carbon, the emissions trading scheme details and the nature of the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target". Mr Richards said that if the proposal went ahead a planning application would be lodged in the first half of next year. The meeting also brought up a difference of opinion over significant landscape overlays.

The next stage of the Tuki wind farm will be unknown until the end of the year. Wind Power met with Hepburn Shire Council last week, after mounting community concern about the proposal. There has been community speculation over whether the proposal will go ahead at Tuki and how many turbines it would involve.

Permission to build four more turbines - a mere four of at least 38 extra Motorimu wanted - has been hailed as a victory by opponents of the wind farm and they say there are ramifications for other planned farms like Turitea. ..."There were huge resources against us," Millricks Line resident Alison Mildon said, but the fight had to be fought. "There are adverse effects, it is not a benign industry," she said.

In an Environment Court decision released this week, Judge Brian Dwyer and two commissioners ruled a total of 80 turbines could be built on the Tararua Ranges around Tokomaru. The site crosses the Palmerston North and Horowhenua boundaries. Last year, the court consented 75 turbines, but turned down 52. Motorimu appealed the decision, arguing at least 38 extra turbines were essential to the viability of the project.

Merredin Shire Council has approved the construction of a wind farm by joint venturers Collgar Wind Farm and the CSIRO backed Windlab Systems. Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd will fund and develop the $600 million project, comprising 127 wind turbines capable of annually generating up to 900,000 megawatt hours of electricity ... The project's construction team is planning a forum in Merredin for local sub-contractors to register their interest in the project, probably in mid-October.

Soaring world demand for steel could more than double the cost of building wind farm towers in Portland next year. Forecast rises for Australian steel would mean a $70 million bill for Portland-based Keppel Prince Engineering. Flat plate steel which cost $1200 a tonne early this year is tipped to hit $2800 a tonne in 2009.

The plug is set to be pulled on a multimillion-dollar Wellington wind farm proposal because of visual pollution concerns, despite a winter of power cut fears. A report by Greater Wellington regional council recommends a five-year moratorium on wind farm development at Belmont Regional Park, five years after the council called the site a "world-class wind farm opportunity".

The Palmerston North City Council received the resource consent application in August, and had expected to publicly notify it in early October. But the council was now waiting to hear the outcome of a ministerial call-in application, Mayor Jono Naylor said. "The council's role will be different if the minister does call it in. We don't want to be spending a whole lot of time and money going down one path."

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.

Trustpower's bid to develop a multi million-dollar wind farm, at Kaiwera Downs near Mataura, appears destined for the Environment Court. Gore district planning consultant Keith Hovell said a pre-hearing, in Dunedin on Thursday, saw the Uplands Landscape Protection Society win the right to continue with its appeal, as it was lodged, against resource consents for the wind farm. The hearing would not be held until April 2009, at the earliest, he said.

TrustPower yesterday "put on hold" its earlier application to strike out part of an appeal by the Upland Landscape Protection Society against a proposed $400 million wind farm at Kaiwera Downs, near Gore. During a preliminary hearing in the Environment Court at Dunedin, TrustPower initially sought to strike out part of a wide-ranging appeal by the society against a consent granted to the energy firm's wind farm in June. The Gore District Council and Southland Regional Council are respondents in the case.

RES Australia has revised its plan for the number of turbines to be constructed as part of the proposed Ararat Wind Farm, determining that the site has the potential for 76 wind turbines. ..."We previously advised that the scope of the project would be approximately 50 wind turbines,'' RES Australia Developer Sedat Erol said. "Through further engineering, planning and environmental assessments it has been determined that the site has potential for further generation capacity.

A "dangerous" discussion that verged on perverting the course of justice was silenced by mayor Maureen Reynolds at a Tararua District council meeting yesterday. In a highly unusual move, Mrs Reynolds let two Waitahora wind farm opponents sitting at the back of the meeting ask questions during council discussion. But when the talk threatened to infringe on the future impartiality of councillors, she was forced to clamp down on the session.

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.

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.

Ewan Carr Another round of court action is being considered by one of the groups fighting to prevent wind turbines from sprouting on Otago and Southland hills. The Upland Landscape Protection Society learned this week that the High Court had struck out its bid for a judicial review of resource management processes used for Meridian Energy's Project Hayes and TrustPower's Mahinerangi Wind Farm. Society spokesman Ewan Carr told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the society's executive would meet sometime in the next week to decide if an appeal would be lodged. The society had sought the judicial review claiming errors by the three local authorities that approved the wind farms - the Central Otago and Clutha District Councils and the Otago Regional Council.