Half of the members the Smeaton wind farm community reference group, in central Victoria, have resigned. The six Landscape Guardians members believe their questions were not being answered by the developer, Wind Power. Richard Evans says the former committee members are disillusioned because a significant landscape overlay across the proposed area does not appear to be deterring the developers. "This area has got numerous amount of hills of national significance - they're all covered by significant landscape overlays and I think a lot of people in the area are wondering why we even have to put up with this when the overlays prevent dominant and obtrusive development on it, and we just can't understand why they haven't abided by the local planning laws," he said.

Controversial plans to build a windfarm on the hills above Old Hutton are being met with mounting opposition. The proposal for between five and eight turbines, less than two miles from the village, has prompted fears that irreparable damage would be caused to the landscape. Residents are so upset by the prospect of wind blades more than 120m high dominating the skyline they have formed a protest group known as A Blot - an echo of the cult 1980s TV drama, Blott On The Landscape.

The Grant County commissioners focused much of their attention at their recent public meeting on taking action to address the concerns of residents in the mountaintop region of the county related to road damage and threatened water resources. Commissioner Jim Cole said that the residents have had their patience pushed to the limit during the last few months. "Their water supply has been threatened by Wolf Run's application for a mining permit and they have had to wait hours with the roads blocked while equipment is transported to Grassy Ridge by NedPower/Shell WindEnergy," he said. The county commission has gone on record opposing the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection granting a permit to Wolf Run. However, the commissioners noted that they need to continue to do whatever else is necessary to ensure the residents have safe, potable drinking water.

A landscape protection group is gearing up to fight a new application to build a wind farm nearly identical to one already rejected by the Environment Court. Hastings District Council has given public notice of a request by electricity lines company Unison for consent to build a 34-turbine windfarm on the same piece of Te Waka Range it proposed for 37 turbines in a plan rejected by Judge Craig Thompson in the Environment Court at Napier in April. Unison intends to challenge that decision in the High Court while also starting a new consent application with the council. Judge Thompson had said that the cumulative visual effect of Unison's proposed 37 turbines, added to 75 to be built nearby by Hawke's Bay Windfarms, would be excessive in a sensitive and distinctive landscape.

Projects are picking up the most speed in Ontario, where the provincial government has embraced wind energy as a symbol of its green friendliness, and municipalities are signing on with a fervour because the province's above-market prices mean they can reap cash in land sales and tax revenues. But as Canada experiences a rapid rise in these developments, there is a growing opposition to wind power as a clean energy alternative, with complaints that it is high-cost, energy-inefficient, causes noise pollution and even wreaks havoc on birds' migratory patterns. After raising many of these concerns with the Ontario Municipal Board, residents of Wolfe Island, Ont., celebrated a victory this week when plans for an 86-turbine megaproject by Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. was modified to place the turbines farther away from residential areas and wetlands.

A Fife village considered by some the most beautiful in Scotland could be devastated by wind turbines towering over it, according to its community councillors. Ceres and District Community Council has added its voice to the mounting opposition to plans for a wind farm just 1.9km east of Ceres, in the hillside at Gathercauld. The five 80 metre high turbines are the subject of a planning application by wind power firm EnergieKontor UK, which is also behind the proposals for a wind farm at Auchtermuchty. The community council voted to object to the wind farm-a decision it insisted was measured and taken after canvassing opinion for several months. Chairman Grant Robertson said, "Ceres is often considered the most beautiful village in Scotland and the thought of this beauty being devastated by those turbines towering over the village is too shocking to imagine."

A public hearing over plans for a proposed wind farm at Morwenstow is to take place following demands from protesters.The Planning Inspectorate has agreed to the hearing after power company West Coast Energy appealed against the decision to refuse an application to build a wind farm at Crimp. North Cornwall councillors went against planning officers' recommendations and turned down plans by the company to build three 81-metre (260ft) turbines near the coastal village. One of the reasons for refusal was the "unacceptable visual impact" of the wind farm, which would have a cumulative effect with Forest Moor in Bradworthy, home to North Devon's first wind farm. Members of campaign group, Morwenstow Against Turbines - MAT - were concerned the appeal would be decided through written representations only and have welcomed a public hearing.

"We don't want anything that stands in the way of the effective uptake of wind energy, but when you choose the wrong place and are not sensitive to local concerns it's a real mistake," May said. "Shorelines, where people have a lot of cottages, are not a good place. I haven't gone and measured it myself, but the Pugwash beach is very much up against the 500-metre limit and that's an unreasonably close spot." While the Green Party supports wind energy as a renewable energy source, May said the party also stands for grassroots decision-making.

WIND farms that "blight beautiful landscapes" should be scrapped, a Government minister said yesterday. Energy minister Malcolm Wicks has already blocked one large wind farm set for the Lake District and said he would be prepared to do so again if a planning application would result in "unsightly or intrusive" wind farms.

Now plans have been unveiled to make use of this power as part of an ambitious renewable energy project on the banks of the Trent. Proposals have been submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council for a "landmark feature" of three arches, each containing five small wind turbines. Engineers believe the project will be functional, easy on the eye and "an iconic landmark feature for the scheme and the city".

Ashe County Commissioners voted unanimously this week to adopt a new ordinance regulating the size and placement of wind power systems in unincorporated areas of the county....A 135-foot height limit was placed on small systems while large systems can reach as high as 199 feet - a number the commission said was based on Federal Aviation Administration regulations requiring lighting to warn aircraft of air space hazards.

Six sites in Enbridge's 110-wind turbine project have received zoning approval and are a step away from construction, with another 14 site plans approved on July 11. Enbridge Ontario Wind Power general manager, Bob Simpson, said they're hoping to start building the construction roads at the approved turbine sites within the next week. Simpson expects more of the turbines will surface at upcoming council meetings, requesting additional site plan approvals for each individual site.

An MP has put his political clout behind a campaign against a proposed wind farm amid claims that properties within a 2km "blight zone" will be devalued by at least 35 per cent if the turbines are built. South Norfolk Tory MP Richard Bacon warned of damage to the "gentle rural landscape" if plans for seven wind turbines on the old Pulham Airfield site, near Diss, went ahead.

OGLE TOWNSHIP - Local conservation groups are working to document the health of a number of streams that face potential impact from both future wind turbine and mining projects...... Shortly after, the first of 192 fish was scooped out of the water, stunned by the electrical pulse emitted by Kagel's rig. Among the catch were 21 trout, some so small they were indicative of natural reproduction, said Reckner, the program director for the stream team. Finding that sections of Piney and Cub Run sustain the natural reproduction of trout species has led to them being classified as exceptional-value by the state.

Ann and Hedley Lamb have spent what seems to be a lifetime developing Barmoor Country Park near Lowick in Northumberland. Now with 100 caravan pitches, it is one of 22 such parks in Berwick borough alone, welcoming thousands of visitors virtually year-round. Bizarrely, strict planning guidelines insist that caravans should be screened from view but a clutch of proposed wind turbines barely a mile up the hill over Barmoor will be highly visible for dozens of miles around - with no such restrictions. "We've planted 8,000 trees to screen the caravans," says Ann. "It's for the planning rules, but it's also good for the wildlife and good for the local environment. I daren't even think about how this will affect our business. The landscape with its historic value is the essence of the place; you're going to kill the golden goose. We need a little bit of common sense.

A proposal to site four large wind turbines near an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) has sparked a wave of opposition from residents. People living near Lesnewth and Davidstow in North Cornwall have vowed to fight a wind farm on the northern edge of Bodmin Moor.

Plans to build giant wind turbines at a Dales beauty spot look set to fall at the final hurdle because of their 'visual intrusion'. The proposal for four green-energy generators to power 5,591 homes, has been put forward by Carsington Wind Energy Limited but has met with a number of objections about the chosen location. And now Derbyshire Dales District Council planning officers have recommended that the application for the 335ft tall turbines at Carsington Pastures, two miles west of Wirksworth, should be refused.

After a six month pre-Assembly election moratorium on development, as many as 22 applications for new windfarms are now pending in Powys and anti-windfarm activists are organising themselves to oppose them. Famous TV naturalist Professor David Bellamy visited Mid Wales to give his support to anti-windfarm campaigners in Powys this weekend.

But campaigners from local pressure group Vortex massed outside the venue and canvassed the opinions of visitors leaving the exhibition. Vortex member Roger Wytcherley, aged 55, of Napley Heath, said the majority of people were opposed to the plans. "Everybody has been very willing to tell us their feelings, and not many are for the wind farm," he said. "A lot of people say their questions are evaded and washed over. People are most concerned about noise and loss of equity in their houses. People are not buying houses around here because of the threat of the wind farm.

A WIND farm proposed on the moors above Bacup would blight the countryside, harm recreation and should be turned down, according to an independent report. Landscape consultants Julie Martin Associates, commissioned by Rossendale Council, said that the proposed wind farm at Reaps Moss, Britannia, would significantly affect the special open character, visual amenity and recreational experience' of the area.