The Northampton skyline could be swamped with massive wind turbines if plans to built a 417ft installation at Brackmills are given the go-ahead, an MP has warned. Supermarket giant Asda has applied to build the large turbine at its distribution centre on the Northampton industrial estate. The plans have caused upset among people living nearby and the Conservative MP for Northampton South, Brian Binley, has called for a limit on the structures during a session in the Houses of Parliament.

Developers behind a multi-million pound wind farm earmarked for rural Suffolk says he may reduce the turbines size in a bid to help allay residents' fears. Mid Suffolk Council has given the go ahead for a 70 metre high wind monitoring mast at Wyverstone, near Stowmarket, and the structure will be in place for up to a year. It was expected lead to an application for two 126 metre tall turbines in the village, at a cost of about £4 million. ..."Even when you reduce them to 100 metres they would still be five times the height of the next largest structure in the area and this in no way assuages are concerns, they would still be hugely out of scale with everything else around them."

An inquiry was held at the Lynemouth Resource Centre after Castle Morpeth Council's Development Services Committee rejected the bid last year. The location is in an area of least constraint for wind turbine developments but the Council believes that they are too close to homes and public places to be allowed, with the nearest structure less than 1km away in some places. Planning Services Manager Hugh Edmundson said: "The proximity of these turbines to residents means they would have an overwhelming visual impact on the settlements." ...Planning Inspector David Cullingford will compile a report to the Secretary of State recommending approval or refusal. He said he expected a decision to be made on the application in June.

Campaigners scored a victory against the developers of wind turbines on Tuesday. Plans to build a 60-metre monitoring mast near Tivetshall St Mary by Enertrag UK Ltd were rejected by a South Norfolk Council planning committee. Members of the public packed the council chamber to see six of seven councillors reject the application, with one abstention. They cited visual and environmental impacts among their reasons.

An appeal brought by an energy company wanting to install eight wind turbines in Lincolnshire has been dismissed. Your Energy appealed to the Planning Inspectorate after its application was deferred by West Lindsey District Council for a third time in 2007. But an independent inspector ruled the turbines would cause "significant damage" to the landscape at Laughton. Your Energy's managing director Richard Mardon said the company was undertaking a legal review of the report.

Efforts to regenerate the economy of a former Northumberland coal mining stronghold will be seriously harmed if a green energy company is allowed to erect massive wind turbines in the area, it was claimed yesterday. ..."We are trying to make positive changes to people's lives in this area, which has been blighted by heavy industry for generations." Local county councillor Jim Wright said the seven turbines would be industrial "monoliths", thrust into the backyard of less privileged and disadvantaged communities. He said: "This area has borne the brunt of intrusive and dirty activities for generations for the regional and national good. Post-industrial dereliction is being addressed. However, not many people feel this scheme will generate the area socially or economically."

Standing a staggering 328ft high, the 36 looming turbines dominate the skyline of the Braes O'Doune and have angered many local residents, who claim they have blighted one of Scotland's classic vistas. And similar structures could soon be appearing in a field near you, as ugly onshore wind farms are thrown up to meet tough new European Union "green" electricity targets. Critics say such wind farms are white elephants, claiming that they are both unreliable and inefficient. ...Despite being the traditional gateway to the Highlands and a tourist hotspot, the area near Stirling is earmarked as a site for a flurry of new turbines as the Government attempts to meet these targets.

Plans by Lewis Windpower for a wind farm at Barvas Moor in Lewis have been refused consent on the grounds of incompatibility with European law. Ministers have concluded that the proposed 181 turbine Lewis Wind Farm would have a serious impact on the Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area, which is designated under the EC Birds Directive and protected under the EC Habitats Directive. ..."European legislation requires a specific procedure to be followed when proposals which could potentially affect Special Protection Areas come forward. I considered all the relevant issues and concluded it would not be possible to approve this application.

At the seminar, organised by Mr Stevenson, who is the president of the Intergroup on Sustainable Development, leading scientists agreed that building on peat bogs could be a disaster. "We are getting the whole development of wind power catastrophically wrong if we allow wind farms to continue to be developed on peatland," Mr Stevenson said. There are 980 wind-farm proposals in place across Europe, of which 187 would be built on peatland. Some are gigantic wind farms, such as that proposed for on Lewis. "This is a looming catastrophe," said Mr Stevenson. The problem of building wind farms on peat bogs was highlighted in a report in The Scotsman earlier this week.

People living in Earthcott Green fear three wind turbines will blow away any remaining tranquillity in the area. The turbines have been proposed on farmland off Old Gloucester Road by Stroud-based power company Ecotricity. It maintains the 210ft high turbines - fitted with blades almost 40ft long - will not have a significant impact on the area and will generate enough power to supply 3,000 homes. But unhappy residents who live near the proposed site claim the company has picked the wrong area.

People in a cluster of the North's former mining villages are preparing to speak out against plans to build a 13-turbine wind farm. Scottish Power subsidiary CRE Energy wants to erect the 121m-high turbines on farmland west of the Alcan aluminium complex at Lynemouth, which would be 40 metres taller than the smelter's landmark chimneys. ...Castle Morpeth councillors rejected the CRE Energy application a year ago, claiming the turbines will be excessive and over-dominant in the flat, coastal landscape. But the company has said it is confident of succeeding with its appeal. Its original bid for 16 turbines was scaled down because of local opposition.

Last month, Stockton Council's planning committee refused an application for a 60m test mast to be located in a field between the two villages to gather wind data over a period of two years. [Stockton MP] Dari Taylor met Dr Leo Hicks and retired industrial chemist Dr Doug Wallace who are leading a protest, supported by the two villages' 400 residents. The MP told them she totally opposes wind farms when they are placed in a rural setting, spoiling the countryside. Ms Taylor said: "Wind farms have their place out in the North Sea or on redundant parts of MOD land, but not in beautiful countryside. ..."Now an energy company wants to place a large wind farm across the beautiful countryside between Hilton and Seamer. "I think they are ugly, incredibly noisy and don't produce enough energy.

An MP is standing shoulder to shoulder with villagers objecting to a planned eight-turbine wind farm. Stockton South MP Dari Taylor says the installation of 120-metre high turbines between the villages of Hilton and Seamer, close to Yarm, near Stockton, will be an eyesore. She said: "I think the Government should acknowledge we already have enough to impede the lives we lead. The rural idyll is something we should go to any lengths to protect. Quite frankly, there has been a paucity of thought on this policy. It is just plain wrong. "I am all for renewable energy, but not at any cost. I don't want them to scar the countryside." ...Dr Hicks said: "Its not Nimbyism - it's not in anyone's backyard. "Wind farms are not farms, they are an industrial development. We are opposed to this proposal because of the visual impact it will have on the area, the noise and the health hazard - vibro-acoustic disease."

... yesterday, councillors refused the proposals after considering comments from Tim Page, conservation adviser for Natural England. Mr Page said the development, which would be close to the Humber Estuary Special Protection Area, would have an adverse effect on wildlife. He said: "We advise that the council is not in a position to conclude that there will not be an adverse effect on the estuary." This was supported by the councillors sitting on the committee. Coun John Colebrook (Con, Humberston and New Waltham), said: "There is no point in having a conservation area and then making ways of intruding into it."

A Campaign to halt a proposed wind farm on Sheffield parkland is picking up speed. Protesters this week lobbied leading councillors in their attempts to blow away the plans for Westwood Country Park at High Green. And they pointed to opposition from their local MP, Angela Smith, who says the park is "totally unsuitable" for a wind farm, partly because it would be near hundreds of homes. Andy Redfern, who chairs the action group, Save Westwood Country Park, said: "The storm that this has elicited in local people is quite tangible. ...Mr Redfern asked councillors: "Given this is a piece of green belt land and Hillsborough MP Angela Smith opposes these plans, as do local residents, will you abandon the plans? No other windfarms are near so many homes. Please stop this madness."

If you have a hankering to see Britain's green and pleasant countryside or its rugged coastline, you shouldn't wait too long. They are both likely to disappear soon under thousands of massive, swirling, 400-foot wind turbines. Recently, U.K. Industry Secretary John Hutton announced that the British government is planning 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity, adding to the 8 GW already in development. A grand plan that could, in theory anyway, power all of Britain's 25 million homes by as early as 2020. Wind seems to be blowing in the minds of the politically correct and those on the environmentalist bandwagon. But the cost is going to be huge, no companies will plunge into it without massive government subsidies, and should the turbines actually be built, power reliability will almost certainly take a nosedive. ...The bottom line is that the debate about renewables, and investment in them, is as much about ideology and political belief as about economics and environmental issues. When the real cost of wind power as a major player in our future power needs is assessed, the answer won't be found just "blowin' in the wind."

The Scottish Government has ruled out a change in law which would have protected some of the country's most picturesque areas from a "barrage" of wind farm applications. Politicians including Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser had demanded the introduction of a law which would have created "no go" areas for wind farm developments. He insists the legislation would have protected some of Scotland's most beautiful areas, including huge swathes of rural Perthshire in his constituency. ..."We certainly need to have better and stronger guidelines or the current barrage of wind farm applications in areas such Perthshire will continue.

He told the Lynn News: "The intention is to protect the unusual and singular view of places like The Fens and also the lush and picturesque landscape of North West Norfolk. "The Fens is a place internationally recognised as an area of flat landscape where rainbows can be seen end to end and both sound and vision can be measured in miles rather than yards. "The rest of North West Norfolk is also a rare and beautiful place and I am attempting to protect it for future generations by limiting the height of any structure built in open countryside to a very generous 246 feet - which seems to be more than reasonable."

A Wind farm protest group has accused Your Energy of failing to properly assess the visual impacts of its proposed Moorsyde scheme. Moorsyde Action Group (MAG) says the photomontages to illustrate the seven 360 feet high turbines planned between Ancroft North Moor and Duddo are inadequate and misleading. "We have been forced to produce artist's impressions of the turbines from nearby settlements such as Ancroft South Moor because Your Energy Ltd (YEL) have failed to provide them," said a MAG spokesman. ...The county archaeologist is also understood to have asked that impacts on nearby Duddo Church and Duddo Tower should be taken into account. MAG say that Your Energy have failed to provide any photomontages that illustrate the visual impacts on these sites even though the company's own environmental statement admits that the landscape within 3km would be 'substantially' altered and that turbines would be 'visually dominant' within that distance, resulting in impacts of 'major significance'.

Plans for the UK's largest onshore wind farm on the Shetlands have come under fierce opposition from protesters, four years after the idea was proposed. A planning application for around 155 wind turbines, each up to 145 metres from blade to tip, is due to be submitted to councillors this summer. ...Opponents claim it will damage a landscape little changed since the last minor Ice Age. They are concerned that the turbines will be visible from almost every vantage point on the islands and beyond. They also fear that, once the sub-sea cable is installed, other developers will want to make use of every hillside in Shetland, turning it from an island community into little more than an offshore UK wind factory.