The landscape of Shetland could be changed forever if the giant windfarm project goes ahead, those in the tourism industry told representatives from Viking Energy at a meeting on Wednesday. Members of Shetland Tourism Association, including accommodation providers and tour operators, expressed concern about the size of the proposed development, which could see as many a 192 turbines being erected in the central and north-east mainland. They feared the visual impact of the windfarm would deter tourists, although this was disputed by David Thomson of Viking Energy who produced the results of surveys carried out in other parts of the UK that windfarms made no difference. A suggestion was made to give questionnaires on the subject for tour guides to give to tourists.

The Open Spaces Society has added its weight to the campaign to prevent 410ft tall wind turbines being erected on Todmorden Moor. The pressure group for common land believes they will be totally out of scale and visible from miles around. "The turbines will have a severely detrimental effect on this dramatic landscape," according to the society's general secretary Kate Ashbrook.

E.On UK said it intends to submit an application for planning permission to put the grid connection to the proposed Denshaw Moor Wind Farm underground. The move has been taken to ensure that the visual impact of the proposed wind farm is minimised, although the decision will cost E.On more money as it is more expensive to underground wires, the company said.

Opponents of a wind farm planned for a ridgeline west of Hawke's Bay are celebrating after winning an Environment Court appeal. Hastings-based lines company Unison was granted permission by Hastings District Council to add 37 turbines to 15 for which it already had consent along the Te Waka Range skyline, around the Titiokura Saddle on the Napier-Taupo Road. But the Environment Court said the cumulative visual effects of the 37 extra turbines and another 75 turbines to be built alongside them by Hawke's Bay Windfarms would be excessive in a sensitive and distinctive landscape.

The Environment Court found that while the proposal would have positive effects in terms of climate change and had benefits in establishing a renewable energy source, this was outweighed by landscape effects and the affects on the value of the Te Waka range to local tangata whenua. "Important as the issues of climate change and the use of renewable sources of energy unquestionably are, they cannot dominate all other values. The adverse effects of the proposal on what is undoubtedly an outstanding landscape, and its adverse effects on the relationship of Maori with this land and the values it has for them, clearly bring us to the conclusion that the tipping point in favour of other values has been reached," said the decision.

An environmental expert from Rockefeller University in New York says renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass are environmentally destructive.

Wind turbines being proposed for a development near Hawkesdale will be invisible from the Tower Hill lookout and a landscape expert believes the 31-tower project won't change the character of Moyne Shire. Landscape architect Allan Wyatt told a panel hearing yesterday that strategic tree plantings would reduce the visibility of turbines from most neighbouring houses.

Turbines higher than 50-storeyed buildings on the Lammermoor Range would dominate the landscape and the Central Otago District Council's planner has recommended the Project Hayes wind farm proposal be turned down. The planning consultant's report, released to the public yesterday, expresses concern about Meridian Energy's $2 billion proposal and the effects on the iconic landscape.

Campaigners against the advance of wind turbines on north-east farmland are furious over plans for two new windmills. A group of concerned villagers in the Barthol Chapel area, near Ellon, are already meeting to lobby their local councillor over a number of recent planning applications. They claim "piecemeal" development will lead to one large, poorly-designed windfarm covering a vast swathe of countryside. The two new applications cover land to the north of the village, near Methlick.

Victorious campaigners who defeated plans for a windfarm on the Cumbrian coast said their win should act as a ‘wake-up call' in the fight to stop future developments. Jane Jackson, who fought against proposals for a five-turbine windfarm near Allonby, urged other people to follow their example to "stop the abuse of our landscape".

Campaigners are celebrating victory after plans to build three large wind turbines in the heart of the Hawker country were thrown out. North Cornwall councillors went against planning officers' recommendations and last week refused plans by West Coast Energy to build three 81-metre (260ft) turbines near Crimp, just outside Morwenstow. One of the main reasons for refusal was "unacceptable visual impact with an accumulative effect with Forest Moor in Bradworthy."

Campaigners have won their battle to overturn plans for a five-turbine windfarm on the unspoiled coastline of the Solway Firth. Around 1,000 villagers, visitors and business owners from Allonby and the surrounding area sent letters of objection to Allerdale Council when Nuon Renewables submitted plans to build the 102m turbines at Brownrigg Hall Farm, just outside Allonby. Today councillors on the Allerdale development panel rejected the plans on the grounds the windfarm would have a detrimental visual impact in the landscape and harm tourism in the area.

Plans for a five-turbine windfarm near Allonby are set to be turned down. Energy firm Nuon Renewables wants to erect the 102-metre turbines, on land next to Brownrigg Hall Farm. The windfarm would be on the Solway coastal plain, around 1.9km inland from Allonby, and close to the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site. But local parish councils, Cumbria Tourism and the county council, as well as many local people, objected to the plans because of the potential impact on wildlife, the landscape and tourism.

Proposals for giant wind turbines in the remotest part of the Highlands have concerned the charity which helped the local community secure a £2.9million land buyout. The John Muir Trust yesterday conceded there was a "tricky" balancing act between preserving a unique environment and green energy develop- ment to aid a local economy. The organisation which donated a £50,000 lump sum to the Assynt Foundation and pledged a further £75,000 for running costs of its two estates in Sutherland, also clinched a further £550,000 of private finance to seal the 2005 buyout. But talk of erecting up to six giant turbines within view of the iconic Canisp and Suilven mountains and close to a Special Protection Area (SPA) with rare species has raised eyebrows. Director Nigel Hawkins said: "We're opposed to large-scale wind turbine developments on or near to the finest areas of wild land. "Our main concern about the proposal is the impact on the wild landscape of Assynt with the spectacular mountains, particularly Suilven."

Councillors have rubber-stamped their decision to block plans for a windfarm in the Eden Valley. Members of Eden Council's planning applications committee went against the recommendations of their own officers in turning down proposals for the three turbine development at Hoff Moor, near Appleby, last month. Because of that the matter had to come back before members last week so they could formally agree the reasons for refusal. They voted unanimously for a motion, which read: "By virtue of the size of the turbines and their siting on an elevated site in open countryside they would be a discordant element over a wide area.

Planners were yesterday accused of "sleepwalking" to disaster after approving controversial plans for a major wind-farm development in the Ochil Hills, one of Scotland's most popular hill-walking destinations. Clackmannanshire Council's planning authority, the regulatory committee, gave the go-ahead - on the casting vote of the committee chairman - for a 13-turbine wind farm at Burnfoot Hill, below Ben Cleuch, the highest point in the Ochil range. The Ramblers Association Scotland and the local environment group, Friends of the Ochils, condemned the decision and warned that the development, combined with four proposed similar schemes in neighbouring Perth and Kinross, could destroy one of the country's most precious landscapes.

Councillors have rejected plans for two wind farms in north Cornwall because they say they would ruin the landscape. Proposals for two 9m (29ft) high turbines at the Treetops Holiday Park in Week St Mary were rejected. North Cornwall District Council also threw out an application for three 81m (265ft) turbines at Morwenstow, saying they would have looked "dreadful". But applicant West Coast Energy said the need for green energy should have over-ridden objections. Spokesman Steve Salt said: "There is a need for renewable energy and there is a need for wind energy, we felt we had a good application here."

Plans for a controversial wind farm have been refused by North Cornwall District Council's planning and development committee. An application by Crimp Wind Power Ltd to erect three wind turbines, access tracks and ancillary development on land at Crimp, Morwenstow, has already gone before a site meeting after which more than 100 people attended a meeting in the community centre at Shop to air their views and ask questions. At yesterday's planning meeting district councillors were told the proposed turbines would measure 50 metres to their hub and have 3.31 metre-long blades. The site is in an area of undulating countryside between the A39 and the coast and is around 190 metres above sea level. Objectors have raised concerns about bats in the area, the noise from turbines, its impact on the area's wildlife, residents and tourism industry. They said if it was allowed it could set a precedent along the coastline. After lengthy discussions, councillors turned down the application. Mrs Val Newman said: "The area is very unspoilt. It will have a huge impact. The turbines are enormous and you would see them from a long way away."

A citizens' group opposed to the location of massive wind-energy plant in northern Potter County is pressuring Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell to stop the plan. However, with Gov. Rendell pushing for renewable energy projects in Pennsylvania, the "Save God's Country" (SGC) group could face an uphill struggle. An SGC spokesman said the location of wind turbines in the region is at odds with the governor's strong support for the Pennsylvania Wilds tourist promotion plan. "Are hundreds of industrial wind turbines something that will tempt people to visit the Pennsylvania Wilds?" asked Dan Howe. "It seems incongruous, and yet this is what is happening in Potter, Cameron, McKean, Lycoming and Tioga counties, all designated as the Pennsylvania Wilds."

HANCOCK - Building inspector William Palmer Jr. said Friday he will accommodate the developmental delays of the Berkshire Wind Project, but only to a point. Palmer said he has issued several permits and extensions to Distributed Generation Systems Inc. since 2000 for 10 planned wind turbines on Brodie Mountain. In that time, contractors have dug five turbine foundations, he said. The latest six-month extension technically expires on June 15, and the project has been halted by a legal suit from the nearby Snowy Owl resort, whose owner, Silverleaf Resorts Inc. claims that construction cut trees from a portion of its land and that some of the turbines would mar the "viewscape" of a planned time share development.