The Government says it wants to cut the red tape and expense involved in generating energy from wind, and insists the new rules will come with strict conditions about noise, size and appearance. But rural campaigners said the changes to the planning system could lead to a 'free-for-all' and warned that the countryside was in danger of being sacrificed in the battle against global warming.

Magnificent views enjoyed by visitors to an award-winning North East holiday complex would be ruined by plans to build four massive wind turbines nearby, it is claimed. Businessman Alun Moore has invested about £2m over the last 20 years in developing his Beacon Hill holiday centre, 15 self-catering cottages and a luxury spa on a hilltop north west of Morpeth. ...But now Mr Moore fears his business, which employs 14 people locally, will suffer badly if plans by Novera Energy to erect four 101m turbines at nearby Todd Hill, Pigdon, are given the go-ahead.

An East Yorkshire resident is calling for a change in the law so new wind turbines cannot be built near homes Currently there is no minimum separation distance between homes and the structures, but company director Larry Fleming, from Spaldington, near Goole, wants a 2km limit. Villagers are fighting proposals by two separate developers for 14 turbines standing 400ft tall, three times higher than Howden Minster.

John Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, will today launch a ferocious attack on the "landowners and nimbys" who he says are holding up the installation of wind farms across Britain and thus hindering the fight against climate change. In unashamed class-warrior style, Mr Prescott lashes out at opponents of windpower who successfully block planning applications for wind turbines because they may spoil their "chocolate box view".

Planning officials have suspended a proposal to build a wind farm between two Lincolnshire villages. Enertrag UK has been asked to provide more information about its plans for eight 125-metre turbines at Baumber and Wispington, near Horncastle. East Lindsey District Council will allow the application to continue through the planning process if the energy company can show how its project will affect nearby residents.

The MP for Mid Worcestershire has called for a ban on commercial wind turbines being constructed within a kilometre of people's homes. ...Speaking after visiting a public exhibition organised by Scottish Power Renewables at Norton and Lenchwick parish hall, the Conservative MP said: "These are effectively 40-storey high structures in open countryside - they must be a reasonable distance from homes.

The MP for Mid Worcestershire has called for a ban on commercial wind turbines being constructed within a kilometre of people's homes. Peter Luff said proposals for a wind farm close to Bishampton, near Pershore, would see some turbines located little more than 600 metres away from houses.

Families fighting plans to erect four giant wind turbines in their rural Northumberland community have taken their protest campaign into the skies. They are flying a large orange blimp at a height of 101 metres above the proposed site of the wind farm near Morpeth in a bid to show local people and council planners the likely impact of the installation on the landscape and homes.

Residents protesting against plans for a wind farm near Dumsurn say they are alarmed by results from a recent report which claims living close to turbines can lead to a greater risk of several health problems. The application for the proposed wind farm in the North Sperrins is for seven turbines, each 121 metres tall ...Members of the Roe Valley Anti Wind Farm Group are determined to fight the proposal and say they will take legal action if they have to. They argue there are too many wind farms in the area and that "enough is enough".

Free satellite dishes have been offered to an entire village next to a windfarm because the turbines are disrupting their television viewing. Villagers in Gransmoor started experiencing problems with their television signal shortly after 12 windturbines, which stand 125 metres tall including their blades, were put up at Lissett Airfield. Novera Energy informed villagers before the development they could experience some disruption to the signal and that the firm was happy to install a Free-Sat System to every household experiencing problems.

Jane Davis and her husband Julian from Deeping, St Nicholas live less than 1,000 metres from a huge wind farm that was built three years ago. The couple say the noise from the eight 330 ft (100m) turbines keeps them awake at night and has forced them to move into rented accommodation. In an effort to have the turbines switched off at night or even taken down altogether the couple are planning to take the developers, landowners and operators to the High Court.

Residents living near a new wind turbine say it sounds like a 'steam train' day and night. The windmill sited at Intec (UK) Ltd on Penrod Way, Heysham, has only recently been turned on to full capacity and then it became apparent that the noise for neighbouring properties was, according to residents, 'torture'. ..."The company's management arranged for the installers to make adjustments ...It was hoped that that this may have reduced the problem, but residents so far do not find this to be the case.

Residents of a medieval hamlet are hoping councillors will help them fight a controversial wind farm plan next week. On Wednesday Durham County Council cabinet members will be asked to designate Bolam as a Conservation Area. Their plan could see the council forced to go up against energy company nPower Renewables, who want to build six wind turbines just outside Bolam, near West Auckland.

The creation of the non-elected body, arguably the most powerful quango ever, comes as the Government insists that a greater take-up of renewable power is essential in the battle against climate change and improving energy security. Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband has warned that communities in the Westcountry have "no option" but to support a massive expansion of onshore turbines.

Demand for power from homes and businesses will exceed supply from the national grid within eight years, according to official figures. The shortage of supplies will hit the equivalent of many as 16 million families for at least one hour during the year, it is forecast. Not since the early 1970s when the three-day week was introduced to preserve coal has Britain faced the prospect of reationing energy use.

Ministers are considering whether to establish a "conservation bank" to help overcome planning objections to wind farms and other renewable-energy projects. Planning problems have held back British onshore wind farms. Vestas blamed nimby (not in my back yard) objections for its recent decision to shut Britain's only wind-turbine plant, on the Isle of Wight (see panel below). Vestas and other energy groups say planning delays and uncertainties make it riskier to invest in Britain than in other countries.

A long-running campaign to build a wind turbine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn has been dealt another blow by councillors. The latest application to build an 80m turbine in the hospital grounds has been refused by West Norfolk's development control board ...This is the second planning application for the turbine which has been turned down.

People living close to windfarms in Powys could face a health risk as campaigners claim turbines are being built too close to people's homes. It comes as Powys County Council is expected to receive planning applications for more than 500 wind turbines. Campaign group Cadwriaeth Ucheldir Powys say studies have revealed many householders living near turbines suffer headaches, sleep deprivation and dizziness.

Dr Nina Pierpoint has warned that living too close to wind turbines can cause heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation in groundbreaking research due to be published later this year. ...To date, the Government and wind companies have denied any health risks associated with powerful noise and vibration produced by wind turbines.

It takes less than five minutes to walk from the church at one end of Moreleigh to the pub at the other but the small community living in the cottages in between have a range of opinions on whether Jonathan Dimbleby is welcome in their Devonshire village. To some, he is an arriviste whose plans to erect a wind turbine in his garden will spoil their view across the South Hams.