City scrambling to meet deadline

Ambiguous language has left Palmerston North City Council scrambling to meet a tough deadline if it wants Local Government New Zealand to support national guidelines for wind farms.

The council had applied to have a remit included on LGNZ's annual meeting agenda, calling for a national policy statement on wind farms.

The support of at least five councils is required for any remit, and Palmerston North had nine.

But LGNZ denied the application, unless the wording of the remit was changed.

It had to be amended to "more clearly propose the appropriate tool for national guidance [rather than just proposing a national policy statement]". Two of New Zealand's biggest city councils Wellington and Christchurch also indicated they would support an amended version.

But the deadline is tight all remits must be in by tomorrow.

Because the council would need to re-gather support from five councils, it had been given an extension until 5pm Monday, chief executive Paddy Clifford told a council meeting last night.

All councillors supported amending the wording, which now calls for a national environmental standard for siting wind farms, and a national policy statement on landscape issues.

Mayor Jono Naylor said the wording wasn't the issue.

"The important thing is the spirit of what we are trying to achieve."

Cr Peter Wheeler said it was probably too late for Palmerston North to benefit from national guidelines, but he still supported the idea.

"Perhaps we can protect other towns and cities in a better way than we did our own."

But Cr Bruce Wilson disagreed, and said Palmerston North would benefit, predicting the next area of interest would be by Kelvin Grove.

"You can mark the prediction down and score it against my epitaph."

All councillors voted in favour of amending the wording of the remit and gathering support.

* The new wording:

That Local Government New Zealand request central government to develop a national environmental standard with regard to the siting of wind farms, and more specifically on:

The minimum distance turbines can be placed from private residences; appropriate assessment of noise and vibration from wind turbines, and maximum noise and vibration levels affecting dwellings.

That Local Government New Zealand request central government to develop a national policy statement on:

Criteria to identify outstanding landscapes and how the preservation value of these should be balanced against development pressure on them.