A near-riot resulted in closure of a Barnsley Council planning meeting, as tempers rose over another proposed wind farm near Penistone at Crow Edge. The bust-up between councillors was over the Labour voting that saw the three turbine wind farm at Blackstone Edge given the green light, subject to approval from the Secretary of State. One Wombwell area councillor said: "There was an angry, heated argument and the meeting had to be abandoned while people calmed down."

Villagers who have spent £50,000 on a six-year battle against a proposed wind farm on their doorstep look to have finally won their fight. A high court judge has ruled that the "considerable rural charm" of the area of Guestwick, between Fakenham and Aylsham, is reason enough to refuse plans for a group of wind turbines there.

Opponents of three proposed wind farms in Northumberland last night called for a public inquiry to be postponed, after plans for a new scheme were submitted. Plans for turbines at Moorsyde, Toft Hill and Barmoor, all near Berwick, are due to be heard at an inquiry beginning on May 6. Now however a planning application has been submitted for another eight turbines at West Ancroft, in close proximity to the three inquiry sites.

Evelyn Hayden has already lost a lot of sleep over the Digby Neck Wind Farm-and she expects to lose some more. Hayden, whose home is just 600 metres from the proposed location of one of the 20 turbines that will be built this year, was the first speaker at a March 24 roundtable that focused on the wind park. ...Hayden set the tone for the evening: "This meeting means council will finally listen to our side of the wind park fiasco."

The Co-operative Group, which hopes to build the wind farm on land near Langford and Biggleswade, has announced its plans for a package of community benefits, including an environmental education programme and a community trust fund. But meanwhile campaigners against the development have been distributing leaflets at school gates - warning that it could be a potential health time bomb. A couple from Enfield ...are urging people to sign an online petition asking the Government to enforce a buffer zone of at least two kilometres between industrial wind turbines and homes.

A watchdog has asked a firm to stop overstating the carbon-saving benefits of its proposed wind farm. ...AMP spokesman Jon McLeod said: "West Coast's misinformation has been shown up for what it is – green spin designed to bounce a well-meaning community into accepting a disfiguring turbine development.

Triumphant campaigners were celebrating today after plans for a controversial six turbine wind farm in Darrington were blown away. Crowds of banner-waving residents protested outside a planning and highways committee meeting at Wakefield Town Hall to await its decision on the plans by developer Banks Renewables.

The consortium hoping to build 19 wind turbines near Wisbech has ditched its current application and says it will consult with residents before making a fresh bid. Richard Kowitz, senior project manager for Marshland Wind Farm Ltd, says the application has been withdrawn "in order to re-engage with the public and consultees regarding raised concerns about our proposals."

The scenic beauty of rural Tyrone could be under threat because of plans to build 218 wind turbines across the county, it can be revealed. Some 27 valid planning applications for wind farms have been lodged at sites across Tyrone, including five in the Dungannon area. The figures were revealed after an Assembly question from North Down MLA Brian Wilson, who is a member of the Green Party.

Campaigners are delighted that the developer behind a £7million windfarm has withdrawn his proposal just days before a decision was due. The plan, earmarked for land next to Potash Lane at Wyverstone, near Stowmarket, would have seen two 130m turbines built, providing electricity to more than 3,600 homes. The development has caused fierce debate for two years with ...more than 520 objections and nine villages called for the scheme to be scrapped.

An angry councillor has blasted a Government inspector for overturning his planning committee's rejection of a 60m high wind turbine. Fenland District Council's planning committee chairman councillor Martin Curtis, says it was "disgusting" the turbine could now be winched into place following the successful appeal. His comments come after the committee refused TCI Renewables' application last year for a turbine at the Anglian Water sewage treatment site in Creek Road, March.

Wind farms generating enough electricity to supply three million homes could be established off the Scottish coast after The Crown Estate approved key preliminary bids from a clutch of power companies. ...However, experts have questioned whether the wind farms will ever be built without fresh government incentives to make them more viable. Industry analysts say that the cost of building offshore wind farms stands at about £3million per megawatt of installed capacity, suggesting that the price of building 6,000MWs could top £18billion.

Planning Inspector Ruth MacKenzie opened the meeting by reiterating the fact that the final decision on the three wind farm appeals for Moorsyde, Toft Hill and Barmoor will be taken by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears MP, after the decision was 'recovered' in August last year. Ms MacKenzie said the Secretary of State's intervention came because the proposals were "of major significance for the delivery of the Government's climate change programme and energy policies."

The firm behind a controversial planning application to build 11 wind turbines near Lutterworth have leapfrogged the planning process by asking that a Government inspector decides on the plan. Energy firm Nuon UK Ltd applied for planning permission to build the wind farm on land between Swinford and Walcote in April last year. However, Harborough District Council has not yet made a decision and had planned to hold a special meeting in February to make a decision.

Campaigners have called for the Government to safeguard North East beauty spots as The Journal reveals hundreds of wind turbines could blight the region. Our wind map reveals nearly 250 turbines could pepper the North East landscape in the next year if planning chiefs give them the go-ahead. Information provided by the region's councils indicates an influx of turbines could begin to dominate the landscape within a few years.

THE Conservatives have spoken out against a wind farm which is planned for South Yorkshire. Developers are looking for planning permission from Barnsley Council to erect five 410ft turbines on Hunshelf Bank near Stocksbridge ...The scheme has been opposed by local residents, Labour MP Angela Smith, parish councils, Sheffield Council, the Peak Park Authority and Conservative councillors on Barnsley Council.

Developers RH Bott & Son wanted to build the wind farm in Benington, near Watton-at-Stone to generate more than 12.5m units of electricity a year - the equivalent of supplying 1,000 homes. However, East Herts Council's development control committee quashed the proposal, at a meeting last night (Wednesday).

West Norfolk council is one of a number of organisations being consulted by the government, before it decides whether to allow the scheme at Marshland St James to go ahead. A report to the authority's development control board says: "The board is recommended to object to the proposal on the grounds of the impact of the scheme on the landscape, noise and disturbance to residents, the impact on the local highway network and the impact on ecology."

The Campaign to Protect Rural England's Cornwall branch (CPRE Cornwall) says local people will soon lose the chance to have their say on planning applications affecting their community. As a result the group offers to help residents fight planning applications which are against local plan policies, threaten protected landscape areas, or are generally inappropriate.

Plans for a huge wind monitoring mast near Tewkesbury have sparked mass opposition. ...Wind Prospect Developments Ltd wants to install it for two years to measure wind speed and direction. It would use the information as part of its plan to have three massive wind turbines at nearby Upper Strensham. An application for the turbines has yet to be submitted, but is expected shortly.