The fate of Marion Township has all but been sealed, but 25 residents drove to Dixon Thursday night to implore county officials to consider an ordinance restricting the placement of high-voltage power lines in Lee County. Big Sky Wind has spent the last several years hammering out plans and securing building permits for the construction of a wind farm in southern Lee County, and the final bit of planning dealt with the sensitive issue of how to get the power to Dixon.

The Town of Albion Wind Advisory Committee discussed a proposed 24-page local law outlining the rules and procedures for wind turbines at Thursday evening's meeting. Town officials have yet to decide, however, whether 400-foot turbines are in the best interest of the community. The draft will be presented to the Town Board with the committee's final recommendations. ...Advisory committee members expressed concern about the visual impact along the Erie Canal corridor, as well as the rest of the community, due to the relatively flat landscape. The public's concerns echoed many of the ongoing issues surrounding the turbines - including a 4,000-foot shadow flicker effect caused by the sun, as well as property values, taxes, noise and the need for tower repairs. Other issues include the efficiency of the turbines and environmental and aesthetic impact.

FOLLOWING the decision by Berwick Borough Council planning committee to refuse the planning application for 10 wind turbines at Wandylaw, the developers, RidgeWind, have said they have not yet decided on whether to appeal the decision. Nigel Goodhew, director of RidgeWind, told the 'Advertiser': "Obviously we are totally dismayed at the decision. We are reviewing all the options that are available to us. This is the one project that had received positive planning recommendation and had incredible support, and independent and neutral surveys and reports endorsed the proposal," he added. "We feel that this was a unique opportunity which has been possibly missed."

A group of "concerned residents" has outlined 35 points of concern. Among those are zoning issues that could be answered by the council or by the Ontario Municipal Board if the residents choose to take that route as several did in Amaranth. But the Provincial Policy Statement is clear on the point that wind turbines "shall be permitted on prime agricultural land." The group raises the issue of whether industrial or residential assessment is better for the township, although they don't couch it in those words but suggest that "the land-use for turbines (be limited to" 5% of the total land within (the municipality)." The group raises issues of freezing rain and of tornadoes.

Groups opposed to plans for the country's biggest wind farm say they will take their case to the Environment Court. The 176-turbine project near Ranfurly in Central Otago was granted resource consent on Wednesday. ...While four of the commissioners accepted the argument that Lammermoor Range is not an outstanding natural landscape, one, John Mathews, disagreed. Opposition groups say that gives them strong grounds to take the case to the Environment Court.

Plans for wind turbines have been blown-out hours before the controversial proposals were due to go before planners. Brighton and Hove City Council has announced it will be deferring the plans for the turbines on its headquarters at Kings House, Grand Avenue in Hove. It was due to be discussed by the council's planning committee tomorrow. ...Council leader Brian Oxley said: "We think it needs to be looked at very carefully and want to make sure we get best value for money, assess the visual intrusion and noise and look at the pay off of the power produced. "We want to make sure it is the right scheme." The turbines had come under criticism from residents living near the seafront building.

The town's plan to erect a temporary wind gauge tower next to the reservoir - part of a project to see if wind power would be economical for Somerset - is on indefinite hold because four residents have gone to court to challenge the Zoning Board of Appeal's approval of the test tower. ...Joseph Fingliss ...said he wouldn't support anything that might lead to having a turbine on the Cordeiro site. "It will definitely be visible from my house as it would Mr. Stafford's and many other people in the residential neighborhood," he said. "It's only going to lead to the possibility of the actual turbine itself being installed there."

A special use permit has already been approved in Bingham County for a Seattle-based company to build 150 wind turbines in the Wolverine Canyon area. But that decision is not going over well with dozens of people who own land in the area, and they filed an appeal with the Bingham County Commissioners. After hours of looking into all the facts, commissioners felt they needed more information before making their final decision. ..."We feel that the windmills are going to affect the scenery. It's gonna affect the way things are done historically. It's a recreational area and should be left as recreational area." In front of a packed courtroom, Bingham County Commissioners talked about the appeal and if all necessary steps were taken to notify people of the public hearing.

Nineteen months and three lawyers later, the Town Council is closing in on regulations for wind-power facilities — and not a moment too soon. Beekmantown’s extended moratorium, which bars any new wind projects, ends in January. The first draft of the law is on the table and being reviewed by the councilors until the Nov. 5 meeting.

An application for a 25 metre-high wind turbine at Plymstock's Coombe Dean School has been withdrawn ...The school applied for planning permission from Plymouth City Council in July but had to withdraw its application this week due to the lack of "noise information" provided.

Wind turbines earmarked for the roof of two council buildings are an ineffective and expensive publicity stunt, according to residents. ...Ray Farrow, who runs renewable energy company Wind Power Energy, said the officers were using the wrong type of turbines which do not have the power to make a difference to the authority's carbon footprint. "I have spent some time looking through the proposed installation of wind turbines ...it is an expensive publicity stunt. "

A public hearing ended in a yelling match Thursday night, after a two-hour discussion about a proposed zoning bylaw, which would allow developers to build wind turbines in Savoy by special permit. Resident Marshall Rosenthal, whose comments made him appear skeptical about the proposal, refused to stop raising his hand when town officials attempted to draw the meeting to a close. "I will not put my hand down until I'm recognized," Rosenthal said ...Emotions seemed to spike among a handful of the nearly 80 residents who attended the meeting. Most of those who spoke raised concerns that wind turbine construction would lead to a marred viewscape and a series of nuisances, such as noise and light pollution. ...During the meeting, two Planning Board members repeatedly reminded residents that the Planning Board would soon be submitting another bylaw proposal for the town's consideration - one with many more restrictions.

Fresh controversy is brewing after First Minister Rhodri Morgan announced wind turbines could spring up on Forestry Commission land. Mr Morgan told an audience at the Liberty Stadium yesterday that wind farm developers are to come up with plans for the land, which lies in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire as well as Mid and North Wales. Opponents said it should be left alone for walkers and tourists. Mr Morgan insisted Wales had to take action to combat climate change by increasing its production of renewable energy and that wind farms were, for the time being, the best method of doing that.

WIND power is not the only answer to the Government's renewable energy problem, according to the North-East's climate change experts. Despite a warning from energy groups that the UK is unlikely to tackle climate change without more wind farms, scientists from across the region have insisted there are plenty of alternatives. Their words have come after planners at Berwick Council rejected a 10-turbine application on Tuesday. And while most of the region's growing renewable energy sector supports wind turbines, alternatives are being lined up because of the growing objections to the turbines.

North Dakota's largest wind farm already has growth plans, state regulators said as they approved a shortened application period for siting 27 new wind turbines near Langdon. ...The commission approved the present wind farm's site plan, and its president, Susan Wefald, said regulators' familiarity with the area may help siting work for the expansion. "There is not a lot of new land that's going to be added," Wefald said. "A number of the turbines are going to be placed on land that has been sited already."

Controversial proposals to develop a windfarm at Norfolk sports-car manufacturer Lotus's test track have been recommended for refusal by district planners. ...Objectors include the Ministry of Defence, which claims the turbines would cause "unacceptable interference" to the air- defence radar at RAF Trimingham, as well as neighbouring residents who fear their lives will be blighted by the structures. Among the concerns are the visual impact over large areas of unspoilt countryside, the industrial nature of the development, potential noise and shadow flicker, and the effect on farm animals and wildlife. There have been 111 protest letters and six in support.

BERWICK Borough Council has refused the Wandylaw windfarm planning application from RidgeWind Ltd for 10 turbines, situated near Ellingham, by eight votes to two at a special meeting of the planning committee on Tuesday night. The reasons given for the refusal of the application included the "detrimental visual impact on north Northumberland", the cumulative effect had both Wandylaw and Middlemoor windfarms been given the go-ahead, the proposed extension of the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB) right up to the A1, and also national security and public safety issues regarding Ministry of Defence radar interference.

Howard County commissioners approved a trio of reinvestment zones necessary to grant tax abatements Monday morning, moving forward with negotiations with several wind energy developers that could lead to an estimated 400 to 500 new turbines being erected in the county. Commissioners met with Terry Wegman, executive director for Moore Development, who is serving as a liaison between the wind energy developers and local taxing entities for the purpose of establishing reinvestment zones, and ultimately, negotiating tax abatements for several proposed projects. The court approved reinvestment zones A, B and C, following a public hearing that drew comments from only a single property owner. ..."Even the smaller developments - the smallest one is 36 megawatts - will be putting up quite a few turbines. I think we're looking at between 400 and 500 turbines at this point, but that's nothing more than a rough estimate."

Giant windmills won't appear in Calumet County for years - if ever. Just the same, their phantom silhouettes are a very real part of the county's landscape. ...and the still unbuilt windmills have set off a battle over property rights - mostly between farmers and residential property owners. ..."In the end, we're still going to have regulations that govern the placement and operation of these facilities," Gentz said. "I just want to make sure we have looked at all of the data and all the angles necessary to protect the health and safety of our people. In the end, I'm sure there are going to be people who are jumping for joy and people who will be very disappointed." Meanwhile, Lisowe's farm is off-limits to some turkey hunters who've used his land in the past. He and some of the other large landowners are thinking about cutting off access this season to snowmobiles, too. "We feel like doing it to make a point," he said.

The fate of a proposed amendment to the county zoning ordinance as it pertains to wind energy is in the hands of the Lycoming County commissioners, who will vote on the amendment on Nov. 15. The commissioners Monday hosted a public hearing at Pennsylvania College of Technology to hear comments about the amendment, which, if approved, would allow commercial electricity-generating wind turbines by right in resource protection, agriculture and countryside zoning districts.