The meeting heard Prof Peter Cobbold use the name, Clwyd power station, to describe to more than 200 local residents what is in store for their countryside between now and 2010. He also talked about the changes in local scenery, which he believes will come about if the asssembly plans to generate electricity from wind turbines continues. ..."The significant thing is that not one word was voiced to support wind energy. "If they are so great, why did no one turn up to say so? Nobody wants them; everybody knows they won't close down a single 'dirty' power station; and yet they are foisted on us by an uncaring Government that refuses to listen to us."

FURTHER objections have been made to plans to build four giant wind turbines near Hemsby. The Broads Authority planning committee has joined Hemsby villagers and Ormesby St Margaret parish councillors in voicing its opposition to SLP Energy's scheme for the 125m high turbines. The objections came at its committee meeting last Friday amid concerns about the detrimental impact on the countryside, outweighing the Authority's need to promote green energy. ...the development would also affect the ecology of the area, with large bird and bat populations at the wind farm site in an area known as the Trinity Broads which is bordered by Hall Farm Fen to the north, an area of fen grazing stretching to Hemsby.

THE region's top planners have warned wind farms could "significantly change the landscape" of Northumberland - as Berwick Council prepares to approve 10 125m turbines. Councils have been told by the North-East Assembly that the "gentle hills of Northumberland" simply cannot accommodate the number of turbines originally planned for the region. Plans to build 10 turbines at Moorsyde were yesterday scaled back to seven as developer Your Energy bowed to growing demands for planners to consider the overall impact of any application.

A CAMPAIGN group which aims to protect common land has hit out at plans to build up to 24 wind turbines in East Lancashire. The Open Spaces Society said the project, designed for the moors between Hyndburn and Rossendale, would be a "menace on the landscape". ...Because the site is common land the company will need special permission for the site. Kate Ashbrook from the conservation group said: "Haslingden is a wonderful oasis among the Lancashire towns. Here the public have the right to walk and ride over every square inch of the common. "The wind turbines with their associated paraphernalia would be a gross intrusion on the landscape and will be highly visible from the common and from further afield."

"Tourism is vitally important to this area. The impact these monstrous structures will have on our landscape could deter visitors. "If we do not object to these developments the whole of west Cumbria could soon be covered in turbines. "These will be visible from Broughton, Brigham and the surrounding area - they will not just effect the immediate area around Tallentire. "Please be prepared to act in the coming weeks to object to this proposal. The numbers of objectors do count."

An energy company's bid to site two giant wind turbines on the outskirts of Lowestoft has been strongly opposed by the family which owns an historic 6,700-acre country estate nearby. ...The estate has employed the services of expert consultants The Landscape Partnership (TLP) to fight its corner and the report added: "In TLP's assessment, the proposed turbines would contrast with the character of the AONB and the sense of tranquillity and timelessness that is typical of the local area."

VILLAGERS battling to prevent a wind farm being built near their homes have received a boost after Boston's MP pledged his support for their cause. But Mark Simmonds left a meeting of the Sibsey Turbine Onshore Protest (STOP) group in no doubt as to the scale of the task ahead as members try to prevent the Needham Wind Farm project becoming a towering reality. ..."We would all support making a meaningful contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases through increasing renewable energy, but in a flat Fenland landscape, with the sorts of wind speeds you get round here? "This is not the right place to put wind farms."

ONE of the North-East's biggest visitor attractions is to lead the fight against plans for a wind farm in Northumberland. And the Duchess of Northumberland's Alnwick Garden will be backed by other tourism favourites, including the Chillingham Wild Cattle park and possibly Alnwick Castle - the home she shares with the Duke of Northumberland. ... "The garden is concerned that the sheer scale of the development may discourage visitors to the Alnwick area - these visitors freely express the pleasure they feel when enjoying the fantastic natural and historic landscapes of Northumberland together with the coastal area of natural beauty and the Northumberland National Park."

The march of the wind turbine seems to be slowing. Two major windfarm proposals for the North-east have been knocked back in recent weeks. ...Surveys show that most people support the idea of windfarms. But at a local level, campaign groups talk of industrialising the landscape and question the green credentials of the windfarm business.

Phil Jones, planning manager at the NEA [North East Assembly] Phil Jones, planning manager at the NEA, warned the combined sites, along with the 10 turbines planned for Moorsyde, could create "a wind farm landscape". His reports adds: "Wind energy development could interrupt the openness of the landscape to some extent and would form a dominant focus in a landscape with a strong rural character."

Producers of the Oscar-tipped film Atonement may not have chosen Teesside as a location if a planned wind farm had already been built, it is claimed.

Nigg and Shandwick Community Council chairman Richard Cross described the photomontages as "extremely dubious" and queried why a request for copies was refused. He said, "Why? Could it be that the images do not stand scrutiny? "They insist on referring to this development as 'small scale' but capable of supplying 6,000 houses. The Nigg and Shandwick Community Council area contains approximately 175 houses, 30 of which will be within one mile of the wind turbines.

WIND turbines should not be placed on Trawden's hillsides because they will "ruin" the area for tourists, councillors said. In a u-turn from Pendle Council's policy to champion individual electricity generation, plans for a 15m turbine at Cemetery House, Boulsworth Hill, were rejected after senior members complained the landscape would be "destroyed."

"There is a real concern about a number of issues. Not least of which how the local roads in Shore could cope during the construction phase. These are expensive symbols without doing much to contribute to the nation's energy supply. They will destroy the South Pennine environment that we all benefit from. I welcome Paul's support who will take this debate about renewables further in Parliament."

From the roar of aircraft to the drone of giant wind turbines, it is getting harder to find peace and quiet in the countryside. ...Since the early 1990s, around 320 square miles of tranquil countryside has been lost every year - the equivalent to an area the size of Greater London every two years. At this rate the remaining 50 per cent of undisturbed countryside in England could be blighted by 2087.

People living in a village near Greystoke want to stop an energy company building an £8m nine-turbine windfarm. Fourteen people have objected to a plan to build the 60m-high wind turbines at Berrier Hill which, it is claimed, would provide enough green electricity to power 12,581 homes. Residents plan to form a protest group and to leaflet nearby houses following a public consultation on the Berrier Hill Wind Energy Ltd scheme, which ended yesterday. They fear the windfarm - whose turbines would be taller than Big Ben - will impair views of and from the Lake District fells and reduce tourism. ..."No-one in their right mind would build turbines where they wouldn't produce a viable amount of electricity. There is no robust scientific base for these assertions."

"The people of the village who were eligible to vote in the parish poll in August have shown that they do not want the wind turbine farm or the anemometer and the planners have taken that view on board in making their decision," said Mr Taylor. Also pleased at the result was Reg Thompson, vice chairman of the action group called Against Turbines at Chiplow". He said : "With over 500 off shore turbines approved along the Norfolk coast, the county has more than met its quota for renewable energy. I believe that the decision at the meeting sends a clear message to the power companies and greedy landowners that there should be no more shore wind farms blighting our beautiful Norfolk countryside".

The idea of an energy efficient design is laudable. However, in this case, a countryside location is totally inappropriate and would be contrary to the locational policies of the development plan. "Notwithstanding the distinctive merits of the scheme, sustainability objectives would be best served by locating the development in an existing service centre. "This would be a better way of reducing the need to travel by placing the housing and employment closer to key services and amenities, as well as near to a labour pool. The countryside would also be protected from unrelated development."

In recommending refusal, Jane Meek, the council's director of development and regeneration said Mr Culshaw "has failed to demonstrate the very special circumstances required to overcome the presumption against inappropriate development in the green belt". She said the siting, height and scale of the turbines would harm the open character of the area, and also that Mr Culshaw failed to submit adequate information to allow the council to assess the potential impact of noise from the turbines.

In an attempt to protect the moor the society has called for National Park status to be extended at the south west corner towards Brayford, Molland and West Anstey which are all in an area referred to as Greater Exmoor. The report states: "Protecting the landscape is a major concern." Recent proposals for a series of windfarms in the area surrounding Knowstone have caused particular unrest.