A decision on whether to adopt the guidelines was deferred for one month at the council's June ordinary meeting, after councillors decided changes needed to be made.

The revisions include a statement on the significance of landscape overlays and the need to protect them, a requirement for a minimum of 2km between any wind turbines and private homes and a condition that wind farm operators

be required to decommission any turbines when they reach the end of their operational lifespan.

Hepburn Shire Mayor Bill McClenaghan said the guidleines would have only a minimal effect until a national set of standards was developed.

Cr McClenaghan said there was some division among councillors about whether the guidelines were tough enough.

"It's very hard to draft wind guidelines that will suit everybody. Some will say they're too tough others will say they are not tough enough,'' he said.

"I personally think it's very difficult to draft guidelines when the whole sector needs to have a national standard.

"There are too many unanswered questions, like we are still using outdated New Zealand standards for noise and other effects. These are the issues that need addressing that individual shires can't do.''

One of the problems council officers have identified is that, in some cases, the council does not have legal grounds to challenge wind companies on breaches of the guidelines.

The council found that it could not legally force companies to remove decommissioned towers.

"(It) has neither legal weight nor statutory basis for enforcement of law for the failure of decommissioning a wind energy facility," the report noted.

Cr McClenaghan said he supported adopting the guidelines because of the lengthy community consultation process that was involved.