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.

Ashhurst man Harvey Jones has sounded a warning about what Turitea residences could be in for if a wind farm gets the go-ahead there. Yesterday, he described to the board of inquiry considering the Turitea proposal how he would hear a "low rumble like a train" and a noise "sometimes like a jet flying over the top."

For the next four months or so, Mr Ressom and fellow observer Helen Phillips will stand sentry among the reeds, monitoring the numbers of Australia's rarest bird - the orange-bellied parrot - making sure its dwindling numbers don't fly into the blades of a wind turbine. ...Last year, the turbines at Yambuk were shut down twice, when the observers alerted the wind farm operator Pacific Hydro, that a number of the parrots were feeding in the vicinity.

The layout of Mighty River Power's planned Turitea wind farm is under review after nearby residents and landscape experts slated its design. The company plans to build a wind farm of up to 121 turbines near Palmerston North, but announced yesterday it would "reconsider" the design. Landscape experts were worried about the visual impact of the proposed turbines on the Tararua Ranges and Turitea residents were also upset that some of the proposed turbines were near houses.

The University of Ballarat has begun investigating noise levels near Waubra Wind Farm, with residents claiming low frequency turbine sound is affecting their health. Some say they have experienced headaches, nausea and sleep deprivation since the turbines began operating. The tests will be done at various locations

Wind farms may be good for the environment, but are they good for people living right next to them? Farmers living near Australia's biggest wind farm in Waubra in north western Victoria claim it's making them sick. But the State Government and the wind farm company say there's no evidence to prove the turbines are the cause of the problem. Cheryl Hall reports.

An engineering expert has started testing noise levels at properties near the Waubra wind farm. Some residents close to the farm say low frequency noise from the turbines is damaging their health. Ballarat University engineering lecturer Graeme Hood will do the tests.

Tension between Powercor and wind farm developers is putting lucrative south-west energy projects at risk. Local councils are worried up to 50 per cent of approved projects could be scrapped ...Some wind farm developers have argued they should not have to pay for electricity sub-stations at the base of their projects and then transfer the assets to Powercor.

A wind farm company has refuted claims by Waubra residents that 128 turbines are causing excessive low-frequency noise. ...However, a University of Ballarat engineer has cast doubt on the tests. Graeme Hood said sound measuring equipment purchased by Mr. Dean, showed low-frequency sound measured at 70 to 80 decibels in Mr. Dean's home.

The board of Tauranga-based TrustPower is expected to announce early next year that it is ready to start building its $400 million Mahinerangi wind farm, near Dunedin. Community relations manager Graeme Purches said the announcement was a "fairly high probability". He expected the wind farm to be built in stages and the first stage might consist of erecting between 10 and 15 turbines.

Windflow Technology says it faces material damage if NZ Windfarms continues to delay payments but the latter says it needs certification. Photo / SuppliedListed companies in a bitter dispute over wind turbines at a Manawatu project are warning of serious financial risks if the impasse is not resolved. NZ Windfarms says it does not know if it can pay its debts.

Wind turbine company Windflow Technology says the withholding of payments by Te Rere Hau wind farm owner NZ Windfarms will shortly "become material" if further payments are withheld. NZ Windfarms had withheld three payments since August 17, and had written to Windflow in regard to each payment stating it intended withholding the payment until issues relating to turbine certification and fitness for purpose were resolved, Windflow said today.

Submitters on the Mt Stuart wind farm proposal raised concerns about the project at a meeting on Saturday. Central Otago company Pioneer Generation bought the Mt Stuart project, near Milton, from original developer NZ Windfarms Ltd earlier this year.

Police were yesterday called in to shut down the most violent protest in Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor's career. Mr Batchelor's leg was deliberately slammed in his car's door as he attempted to flee an angry mob, protesting at a community forum in Colac against wind farms. The minister last night told The Standard he was shaken by the violence but still willing to deal with the protesters' concerns.

The south-west's prosperous green energy future is under a cloud with fears that half the wind farms planned for the region won't be built. A rift between Powercor and the wind farm companies over supplying power to the grid is threatening to derail billions of dollars worth of projects. The wind farm companies are angry that Powercor wants them to foot the bill for the building of electricity sub-stations adjacent to the wind farms before transferring them over to become Powercor assets.

The Mt Maungatua wind farm development has been abandoned. The founding company, Windpower Maungatua, has wound up the 50-turbine 25MW project because of its inability to find a new financial backer and the difficulties it faced in getting resource consent. ...the decision came after detailed investigations revealed several aspects of the project - including the fact there were areas of "regionally significant flora" near the proposed site and concerns from the local runanga.

Wind turbine blades in Turitea Reserve could hurt New Zealand's endangered native falcons, a board of inquiry has been told. Biogeography specialist Professor Emeritus of Massey University John Flenley told the Turitea Wind Farm hearing yesterday the planned wind farm could lead to local extinction of the rare bird.

The Victorian Government is being called on to investigate whether wind farms can cause people to get sick. A family from Waubra, west of Ballarat, recently moved out of their house because they say a low frequency hum from the Waubra wind farm was giving them headaches.

Protesters will greet Corangamite MP Darren Cheeseman's wind farm forum in Colac today with angry questions about the health affects of turbines. Mt Pollock-based anti-wind farm campaigner Kathy Russell said residents had a range of fears that were not being addressed by the government. Ms Russell said the group had made contact with people who are claiming health affects from the low frequency noises from wind farms at Waubra.

The cost of coming up against corporate giant Mighty River Power is too high for ratepayers and it's time to pull back. The public will be left to fight its own battles after the Palmerston North City Council decided last night to reduce legal representation at the hearing to decide whether a wind farm on Turitea Reserve and adjoining private land should be built. Council has already forked out $460,000 of the $475,000 budgeted for the hearing and if a full legal team had stayed until the end, the bill to ratepayers would have been more than $700,000.